A Shinobi's Life
by Confused Soul92
Summary: It's a Simple story about the lives of Naruto and Hinata and the way they deal with their relationship. Disclaimer I Do Not Own the rights to Naruto. M just in case. Revised!
1. Not Home Yet

******Disclaimer~ I do not own the rights to Naruto.**

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**Chapter-1**

**Not Home Yet**

He had his arms folded under his head for support and stared at the clear blue sky, been a while since he have seen a sky as clear as this, it was calm and beautiful. After all it was a beautiful day, he was finally coming back home he wondered if it all had changed, he couldn't wait till he saw his friends but what he missed the most was the Ramen! He was thinking that it would be his first destination to visit once back in the village, they were only two hours away from the village, one hour really if they picked up the pace _"if only this old perv would wake up I can enjoy my ramen all too soon!"_

The young man threw his jacket at the man sleeping not too far from him. "Wake up Ero-sannien or am going to have to tap into my reserve of black mail material, and this close to the village, god knows what Tsunade-Sama goanna do to you!" he said as he got up

"mhmmmm…." Mumbled Jiraya

"Listen old man am going to go to the river to wash up and when am back you better be ready to move!"

Naruto walked towards the forest to get to the river enjoying the sounds of birds and the calmness with which the treetops moved, he was half way to the river when he heard the all familiar taps of feet on tree branches.

He hid at the top of a tree to observe, suddenly two huge dogs pashed in from behind the pushes shadowed by two huge tigers one white and the other dark grey, the tigers surrounded the dogs walking circles around the two dogs, the dogs seemed distracted by something else though

"_Those look scary"_ Naruto though observing

Suddenly from the tree across from him jumped a ninja into the clearing.

"I win" a female ninja calmly said

One of the white dogs barked

The girl suddenly took a defensive stance quickly made a hand seal and whispered something Naruto couldn't hear then right on queue the girl flung six Kunias at him and one of the dogs puffed into a man.

Naruto dodged the Kunias by jumping off of the tree and right into the clearing.

"Hey now there is no need for that, am a leaf Ninja" Naruto said as he pointed at the girl's headband around her neck.

The two tigers however jumped in front of the female and took low stance as if they were going to jump on Naruto.

Naruto was freaking out he waved his hand in front of him hysterically " I swear am a leaf Ninja".

The man who was just a dog not too long ago was laughing "well am glad to see your still the same thick headed Moran, Naruto, I can't believe you did not recognize us!" the man said.

Naruto stared at the man for moment then something clicked in his head "Kiba! I Cant believe it's you! Wait…is this dog?" Said Naruto

"Yup"

"Akamaru, look at you so big!" said Naruto as he starting to approach the dog but stopped in his tracks when the two tigers growled at him.

"Hana, Sora its okay I know him" the female ninja said

"Are you sure Hime?" said the grey tiger reluctant to be at ease.

"Yes, thank you guys for the help you can be dismissed now"

"Till next time Hime" said the white female tiger calmly as she puffed out of existence

The grey tiger just growled at Naruto before he as well puffed out.

"Hinata?" Naruto said more to himself as he was staring at her

"Hai Naruto-kun, welcome home" she said with a slight but warm smile.

"WoW! Hinata-chan you changed so much" Naruto was still staring at her.

"Well, if your done staring at Hinata, maybe you can tell us when you got back" Kiba chuckled at the two.

"Sorry I didn't mean to stare Hinata-chan, well technically am not back yet, we are on our way back now" he said blushing just a little at being caught staring.

"What are you guys doing so far out of konoha?" asked Naruto.

"We were working on our tracking skills" Hinata said before she turned to Kiba "You could of told me that it was Naruto that I was throwing my Kunias at, I know you caught his smell!" Hinata turned to Naruto and smiled cheaply at him "Sorry about that Naruto-kun".

"You knew?" accused Naruto.

"Well I thought it would be funny" said Kiba while laughing.

Hinata and Naruto glared at him.

"Well I better get back to Ero-Sannien so I can finally be back home" Naruto said already walking back to the camp he and Jiraya set up then stopped and turned to Hinata " That was a really cool summoning Hinata-chan" smiled and continued his way back to Jiraya.

Hinata smiled to herself blushing a little.

"Well, Well Blushing Hinata is back, haven't seen her in a while." Kiba said smirking as he was giving a treat to Akamaru.

"Oh Shut up Kiba-kun, you don't want me to summon Hana and Sora again now do you?" Hinata glared at him

Akamaru whimpered at that thought.

"Oh no Akamaru its only for Kiba-kun, your too cute to threaten" she said as she went to pet the dog.

"tsss…..Don't be a wimp Akamaru" Kiba glared at his dog who was licking Hinata's face by now and ignoring him.

"We need to head back or you will be late for our team briefing" Kiba reminded her

"Oh Shoot…. race you to the village?"

"What's the point you know your going to win" sighed Kiba in mock defeat while actually he started running ahead of her

"I'm still going to win" smirked Hinata as she too ran back to the village.

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Please Review ^_^


	2. Homeless

******Disclaimer~ I do not own the rights to Naruto.**

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**Chapter-2**

**Homeless**

"Hokage-Sama, Uzumaki-San and Jiraya-Sama have arri.." the young shinobi was announcing their arrival but was interrupted by Jiraya who pushed him aside "Tsunade since when do you make me wait?, its unbecoming that the great Jiraya waits!" he said smiling at Tsunade who was sitting at her disk.

"Will I am the Hokage Jiraya, you must wait for someone…." She got up from her disk just as Naruto walked in as well.

"Tsunade-Sama I see they have put your face on the monument" said Naruto grinning at her.

Tsunade looked at him shocked "Tsunade-Sama? Since when do you call me that, don't tell me that Perv have actually taught you a thing or two about respect?"

"Hey am standing right here!" yelled Jiraya putting on a mock hurt expression.

"Naah am just messing with you Obaa-chan, how have you been?" Naruto laughed.

"Tsk…should have seen that one coming, now come here and give me a hug!" said Tsunade as she walked towards Naruto "I've missed you kid, although hard to call you a kid with you so tall, my god you've grown, your going to be fighting girls off with a stick"

"I missed you too Obaa-chan" said Naruto as he released her.

"How about a hug for your old teammate huh?" said Jiraya as he walked towards Tsunade arms wide open.

"In your Dreams" she said as she glared at him enough to make him retreat.

Suddenly the door was flung open and Sakura yelled "Naruto!"

"Sakura! I haven't seen you in forever!" he said as he walked up to her and smashed her in a hug.

"Welcome home Naruto" she said as she let go of him.

"Thank you, how have you been? You look different" said Naruto happy to see his old teammate.

"Am Great, I could say the same about you"

"Your so tall Naruto, I remember you used to be the shortest of the Rookie nine"

Naruto's shoulders sunk at that "yeah yeah…" he said in defeat

"Okay Naruto first things first, Jiraya can give me the report on your training but there is a small bit of business we need to handle first" Tsunade said grabbing everyone's attention again as she leaned on her disk half sitting half standing she added "I have bad news and good news"

Before Naruto could choose which he wanted to hear first she started "you are homeless, after the Orochimaru attack we hade to re arrange some of the distracts in the village and your building is now gone, not to worry thought all your stuff is in a storage facility and the village will put you up in a nice hotel for 10 days till you arrange something for you self but don't go slacking its only for 10 days"

"Wait, what?" Naruto slumped in the chair in front of Tsunade "are you serious?"

"Good news is your training for the two years and half is considered a mission and thus you get a load of money for that and you can afford a better place than that hole you were living in" stated Tsunade as a matter of fact.

"Oh really?" asked Naruto his eyes almost turning into yen signs and completely forgetting about his homeless state and continued more to himself "Gama-Chan your going to be fat again yay" then he turned to Jiraya who was sitting in the chair next to him "finally after you abused the poor thing for the entire time we were travelling!"

"You took money from the kid! Jiraya you're disgusting!"

"heh" said Jiraya as he scratched the back of his head "lets say its for the training I gave him?"

"Oh then you would not mind if I gave Naruto your money as well for the mission, I mean since you already got paid and all" Tsunade handed Naruto the two checks.

"Hey come on now lets not be crazy Tsunade" Jiraya's sweat dropped.

"You deserve it"

"Wohoo, that's a lot of money" Naruto said as he jumped up from his chair gleaming at the two pieces of paper in his hand and turned to Sakura who was standing behind him and waved the check and grinned "launch on me later?".

"Sorry Naruto I've got rounds in the hospital, I'll take a rain check" said Sakura smiling at him.

"You work at the hospital?" Naruto asked

"Yes, she does Sakura is an exceptional medic-Ninja when am done with her she will be as good as me if not better" said Tsunade as she winked at Sakura who blushed from her sensei's compliment.

"Tsunade are you creating a Mini-you? Now that's a scary thought" said Jiraya as he chuckled and earned him self another glare from Tsunade.

"Actually Naruto, you and Sakura should have spar together, she will give you a run for your money" stated Tsunade

"Oh yeah? Well I have got a few tricks up my sleeve too" said Naruto smirking at Sakura who raised her eyebrow at him and smiled a scary and all knowing smile in Naruto's opinion.

"Oh Naruto if your going to look for an apartment, the building two block from my house has a couple of empty apartments I remember seeing a sign or something" Sakura said as she was heading out of the door.

"Oh, Thanks Sakura I'll check it out" said Naruto as he smiled at her.

"Tsunade-sensei, am going to the hospital do you need anything before I leave?" Sakura asked as she held the doorknob in her hand to close it behind her.

"No, but be at training ground 6 at 5 PM" she told her

"Okay, see you later Naruto" Sakura closed the door behind her.

"Alright Naruto here is the key and address for the storage unite where your stuff is stored, Jiraya can take it from here, you go deposit the checks at the bank and get your self a hotel room and just relax until I see what we are going do with you"

"Okay thank you Obaa-chan, but I have a request to make" Naruto said

"Sure, what is it Naruto?"

"Well, Ero-Sannien pretty much trained me in most things but because I have a big reserve of chakra my control is still not as good as I'd like it to be, can you help me with that, being a great medic-ninja means you have exceptional control right?"

"Well that is right…Jiraya how bad is he really?" Tsunade turned to Jiraya.

"He compensates for the lack of control by the amount of chakra he has but from a scale of 1 to 10 he is about 4.5 or 5 at best" stated Jiraya.

"Hmmm, well Naruto am quite busy but I'll tell you what I'll help when you get to a more advanced level about 7.5 or 8, for now why don't you ask Sakura or Hyuuga Hinata they have the best control in your generation."

"Oh okay, I'll check Sakura first then" said Naruto as he got up and walked to the door.

"Anything else Obaa-chan?" Naruto asked as he turned to face her.

"Just Welcome Home Naruto" she smiled at him as she went back to sit in her chair.

Naruto was walking towards the bank and looking around the village it was the same but different at the same time, he couldn't wait to go to Ichiraku Ramen, he just needed to deposit the checks first.

He deposited the check in in the bank after earing himself a look from the lady at the bank due to the big amount of money the check held. He was now walking towards the Ramen stand when he ran into team 8 walking in the village.

"Twice in one day Naruto, what did we ever do to have such luck" Kiba said with sarcasm.

"Hey guys, what's up?"

"Welcome home Naruto-san, I trust you are doing good?" said a young man in a trench coat with little of his face showing who Naruto guessed was Shino.

"Yes, thank you Shino, great seeing you" Naruto replied

"We were going to get lunch, would you like to join us Naruto?" asked Kiba

"Well, if you're going to Ichiraku Ramen I am, my treat?"

"Feeling generous are we Naruto?" asked Kiba

"Naruto-kun you really don't have to." Stated Hinata

"Hinata if the man wants to pay for our lunch, who are we to deny him" Kiba said sarcastically

"Yeah you're a Nobel one" said Naruto smirking "It's Alright Hinata-chan it would be my pleasure" Naruto smiled at her as he thought _"she is really beautiful, wait! Where did that come from"_

"Okay Naruto-kun, Thank you then" Hinata smiled at him while actually seeing how much he had actually changed he is much more handsome now with defined features and a more muscular lean body but he also changed mentally and that shows from just the way he was talking. Also, his energy seemed to hum now more than scream out as t used to.

Hinata thought to her self _" Damn it! I thought I completely got over him in the last two years and a half but why can't I help but blush when he looks at me, well, at least I don't still think am in love with him like I used two years ago…yeah yeah I just think he is handsome there is nothing wrong with that, specially those blue eyes…oki snap out of it Hinata!" _

While Naruto was thinking _" has she always looked this beautiful? Or was I too blinded by my stupid obsession with Sakura, man was I an idiot back then…but she really have changed I like her hair long like that, what the hell am I saying!"_

"Not another staring contest you two" Kiba said snapping both out of their thoughts

Both of them blushed a little and turned heading for the Ramen stand quickly to hide their blush while Kiba laughed behind them and Shino just adjusted this sunglasses.

When they arrived at the stand Naruto was the first to sit at one of the stools "Ayame-Neechan! Been far too long, how are you?"

The young woman stared at him for a second then clapped her hands together from excitement " Naruto! Is that really you?"

"I can't tell you how much I've missed this stand" Naruto smiled at her.

"Otosun! Come over here" Ayame yelled at a side door that was a storage area of some sort and then turned to Naruto and his friends "what can I get you guys?"

"I'll have a pork Ramen please" said Shino

"Miso Ramen for me and some pork for Akamaru please" added Kiba

"And you Hinata-san?" asked Ayame

"How do you know Hinata-chan?" asked Naruto before Hinata can make an order.

"Everyone knows the Hyuuga Heiress Naruto, she is practically Konoha's princess" Ayame looked at him as if he was asking the stupidest thing ever. While Hinata squirmed in her seat clearly not comfortable with that kind of attention.

"WoW Hinata You're the heiress to the Hyuuga clan, that's so cool" Naruto looked at Hinata who was sitting next to him.

"Its not really that big of a deal…" said Hinata somewhat shrinking from the attention giving to her by everyone at the stand.

"Your knowledge of the village's politics is scary Naruto" stated Kiba and as Naruto was about to comment on that the side door opened…

"Is that my favorite customer I see, or is old age playing with my mind?" said Teuchi as he walked into the stand and stood next to Ayame.

"OjiSan! How have you been?"

"Ahhh Naruto its good to see you, my business can be good again now that your back" Teuchi said as he winked at Naruto which made Naruto laugh and scratch the back of his head.

"Well Hinata-San What's it going to be?"

"I'll have a Miso Ramen Please" Hinata told her with a warm smile.

"How about you Naruto?" Ayame looked at him

"Don't tell me you forgot my usual Ayame-niichan"

"Not a chance!" said Ayame while she and her dad stated preparing the orders.

Naruto turned to his friends and asked "so are you guys going to enter the Chunin exams, I hear they are next month?"

They all stared at him " umm Naruto-Kun we all are Chunin, we entered the exam a year and a half ago" said Hinata while looking at his reaction.

"Wait, what?...Who else is Chunin?"

"The entire Rookie nine and Ten-ten-san and Lee-san from Guy-sensei's tem, However, Niji-San is a Jonin" Shino stated as a Matter of fact.

Naruto hit his head against the counter and mumbled "am the only genin then…".

"Pretty much" added Kiba as he snickered at him.

"Kiba-kun! Be nice" Hinata said as she elbowed him.

"Its okay Naruto-Kun you were in training outside the village this doesn't mean your not good enough" Hinata mentioned trying to comfort him.

"Yeah…" Naruto said weakly but perked up again when Ayame served their Ramen.

"Itadakimasu" they all said in union as they started to eat.

"How was your training Naruto? Got much stronger?" Teuchi asked while Naruto was eating

"You Bet OjiSan" Naruto grinned at him

"You have really grown Naruto, you become really handsome isn't that right Hinata? Girls will be running after you now" said Ayame as she winked at him

Naruto Blushed as did Hinata.

"_Is she actually expecting an answer?" _Hinata thought while panicking_ "what should I say, why is she staring at me"_.

Hinata kept staring at her bowl of Ramen while just nodding.

They finished eating and Kiba said he has to meet his sister for something regarding dogs and Shino said he needed to check on his bugs, that sent a shudder through Naruto's body he has always hated bugs.

Naruto was about to pay but Teuchi told him it's on the house as a Welcome home gift. They thanked him and were on their way Naruto asked Hinata " what are you going to do now?"

"I have a shift at the hospital in an hour, I thought I'd walk around a little before going there"

"Mind if I tag along and then walk you to the hospital?"

"Sure"

As they walked through a park Naruto remembered something

"Oh Hinata I have a favor to ask" Naruto started "Obaa-Chan told me you have exceptional chakra control and seeing as mine sucks I was wondering if you can help me with that? Its alright if you can't I was planning to ask Sakura first but since I saw you first I thought to try my luck" he smiled "so what do you say?"

Hinata looked at his eyes and said "I'd love to help Naruto-kun" and smiled at him.

As she was smiling Naruto was thinking_ "she has the most beautiful eyes!"_.

"Really? You're the best Hinata-chan" he was so happy that he hugged her then he felt awkward when he felt her stiffen in his arms and quickly let go of her "sorry, got a little excited, so when can we get started?" Naruto asked trying to change the subject.

Hinata blushed at the contact and turned around and started walking again " its alright, how about we work on this everyday from 3 to 6 in the afternoon?"

"Sounds great, thanks again Hinata-chan"

Then there was an awkward silence and as if things were not awkward enough Hinata had to walk slightly closer to Naruto to allow other people to pass and her hand accidently brushed against his, she quickly put her hands in the pockets of her jacket and blushed and so did Naruto.

Naruto thought_ "why am I so nervous around her, keep it together Uzumaki!"_

"So Naruto-Kun, how has it been being back in the village and all?" Hinata asked hopeless to break the silence.

"Funny you should mention that, am homeless but rich" he laughed at that.

"What do you mean homeless?" Hinata asked worried about him.

"Well Obaa-chan says they took down my building when they rearranged the districts, but all my stuff is in a storage unit" Naruto explained.

"Where are you going to live now?" Hinata asked still worried.

"A hotel for a week or so until I find an apartment, Sakura told me about a couple of empty ones" Naruto stated.

"Oh okay, need any help with that?" asked Hinata to be polite more than anything.

"Maybe, I'll let you know" smiled Naruto.

They were now at the hospital

"Wow its been an hour already?" Naruto asked rhetorically

"Thank you for the Walk Naruto-kun" Hinata said while looking into his eyes and her heartbeat increased.

"_She really does have amazing eyes"_ Naruto was thinking as he too looked into her eyes.

"Oh my pleasure Hinata-chan, meet you at training ground 4 at 3 tomorrow?"

"Yes, see you tomorrow Naruto-Kun" she walked towards the hospital gate thinking _"what the hell did I get myself into, am not supposed to feel like that around him anymore"_.

"See you Hinata-chan" Naruto waved and walked towards the hotel deep in thought about the girl he just dropped off at the hospital.

"_Why am I still thinking about her? Why do I feel nervous around her and yet I still want to be around her? She changed a lot though she is more confident she doesn't stutter anymore and judging from that jutsu in the forest she is quite strong too, I like her like that, wait what? Is this what it is … I like her? Ahhh my head hurts from thinking…whatever!"_

Naruto walked into the hotel and got a room, he needed to rest on a bed instead of the ground, which was all he had for the last two weeks. Then he thought he would go see about that apartment. Yeah that seems like a plan.

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Please Review ^_^


	3. Drowning

******Disclaimer~ I do not own the rights to Naruto.**  


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**Chapter-3**

**Drowning **

He turned off the alarm before it rang, he has been up for a while lying on the bed. It was six in the morning and he had a long day ahead of him. He took a deep breath and thought _"here we go"_ and jumped out of bed.

He took a shower and put on some grey pants and a white t-shirt and fetched his Leaf headband from the bottom of his pack, its been a while since he wore it, Jiraya told him it would be easier not to wear it when they traveled, blend in better and all that; he wore the headband around his upper arm instead of his head as usual.

The hotel receptionist wished him a good morning on his way out and he was walking to the address Sakura gave him for the apartment, when he was there only one apartment was left open.

It was a two-bedroom apartment had a good amount of open space and a lot of sunlight came in from the balcony he liked that it had hardwood flooring. It definitely was an upgrade from his old apartment. He thought it to be a little expensive but he had more money now and he could afford it so why not live a little. By the time he finished all the paper work and talked to the landlord it was 8:30 and he was famished so he headed to the Ramen stand.

On the way he ran into Jiraya who informed that he had a mission and that he will be back in the village in a month, Naruto looked at him with suspicious eyes "this does not have to do with any research of yours now does it?" Naruto said accusingly.

Jiraya laughed and said as he walk away "there is always time for research Naruto…".

Naruto shook his head at his Sensei's behavior and kept on walking to the Ramen stand where he had breakfast and chatted a little with the owners about what has been going on in the village in the last three years that he was gone.

By the time he got to the storage unit it was almost 9:30 he created only 20 clones not wanting to waste too much energy because he had training later with Hinata.

While carrying the stuff to his apartment he was thinking about the pale-eyed girl _"do I really like her that way? When I though I liked Sakura that way back then it did not feel like this, maybe because that was not real after all I just wanted her to acknowledge me and gain her approval, but with Hinata-chan is different, this girl thing is really exhausting, what does it really matter its not like she likes me, I haven't even been around for the last three years she probably forgot all about me during those years…."_

By 2:30 he has moved all the boxes into his apartment which was a mess due to all the boxes scattered on the floors, he also managed to go shopping for some furniture that was messing or too old to use, he used the clones to get a new fridge, stove, bed and couple other things as well as some groceries; however some of the furniture wasn't going to be delivered till 7 in the afternoon.

He closed the door behind him and ran towards the training ground, he was afraid he would be late but luckily he managed to get there before Hinata did. She finally showed up fifteen minutes late panting since she ran all the way here from the hospital.

"Sorry I'm late Naruto-kun, something came up at the hospital had to treat a patient" she said while trying to catch her breath.

"It's okay Hinata-Chan, I mediated while you showed up" he said as he got up from his setting position

"You mediate?" she looked at him skeptically

Naruto laughed a little "why is that so hard to believe?"

"Gomen Naruto-kun, I did not mean it like that I just remember how you could not sit in one place when we were kids, you were just full of energy" Hinata explained and went on to say " I actually meditate too, quite helpful to clear the mind or analyze ones training methods"

"Yeah that's true, Ero-Sannien insisted on it everyday" Naruto added

"So how is your day so far, Hinata-chan?" asked Naruto as he stretched his legs

"Uneventful…you?"

"I found an apartment, bought some furniture but the apartment is a mess I have to put the furniture together and empty the boxes and all that"

"Wow you work fast…" Hinata commented "do you need any help with that, am free after training?"

"That would be a great help, Thanks!"

"Okay we should start, first we need to see how much chakra control you have to determine what to do next, now what we are going to do is a more advanced form of exercises like walking up trees and on water."

Hinata sat on the floor and crossed her legs and picked a leaf from the ground next to her, Naruto did as she did

"Okay, so what you need to do is focus the chakra in your palm and try to left the leaf only by using chakra, if you use to much it will be cut in half if you use too little it won't flow above your palm" she said this as she demonstrated how to do it and the leaf gently was lifted and hovered above her palm.

"WoW" was all that Naruto could say

"Okay so now you try" she instructed as she observed him as he worked across from her.

Naturally the leaf was torn in half as soon as he started channeling Chakra, his shoulders sunk at seeing that and he looked up at her with a faint blush for being so bad at this.

"It is okay Naruto-kun it takes time" she tried to comfort him

He got up and made 30 clones they all sat at the ground and tried to perfect this exercise then he turned to Hinata " how about a spar while they work on this, I may be able to meditate but sitting around for three hours trying to make a leaf hover over my palm is just unacceptable?"

"Sure" she said as she smiled at his method of training.

While they were sparing Hinata managed to land quite a few heavy hits to his chakra system while Naruto was mostly trying to evade the heiress and her all seeing eyes from his fight with Niji he knew how much the Hyuuga's hits would both damage and hurt him but as she was heading for a palm strike to his sides four of his clones grabbed both of her arms and feet and he smirked at her " I Win".

"Are you sure about that, Naruto-Kun? One must not get arrogant" just as she finished her sentence a clone that she transformed into a rock transformed back and held a Kunai to his throat.

"Looks like I win Naruto-Kun" she smiled sweetly at him as she disabled her clone.

"heh, I didn't see that one coming" smiled Naruto cheaply as he disabled his clones as well.

"Let's call it a day but after we check on your clones" they went towards the cluster of setting clones

"well they are getting better, the leaf is taking much longer to be torn, that is very good" Hinata stated

"This is going take time isn't it Hinata-chan?" asked Naruto frustrated

"Well you do have a ridiculous amount of chakra, so yeah but you're a fast learner so…" Hinata told him hoping it would make him feel better

"Alright how about we pick up dinner and head to my apartment, some of the furniture is going to be delivered at seven so we should get going".

"Okay" she said as she started walking and she was thinking _"why is it making me nervous that am going to his apartment, maybe it's the idea of being alone with him? But that shouldn't bother me anymore! What is this...and why does he have to look this hot! …Damn it Hina get it together he is just a friend"_

"So what do you want to eat Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked as he walked his hands in his pockets a nervous habit he developed

"I feel like the only right answer here is Ramen" Hinata said smiling.

He laughed at her comment and grinned "Ramen is always the right answer Hinata-chan".

They picked up the Ramen and went to the apartment, the moment the door was closed the environment became insistently awkward, maybe because outside they were around a lot of people but now, it felt like they only existed in the world.

"Am sorry we have to eat on the floor, the dinning table will be here at 7 I just bought it today" Naruto said as he sat on the ground and put his back to the wall.

"Its fine Naruto-Kun" she said as she sat next to him with her back to the wall as well, she was relived this way she wouldn't be caught in his eyes.

As they were eating conversation went on about his journey and she told him about some of the missions she has been on and about the Chunin exam. They cleaned up after they ate and started working on the boxes and talking as well, Naruto made a few clones to help.

It was a little overwhelming for Hinata to be surrounded by so many Narutos in such a small space and not in a training environment. However, she noticed that his clones were unusual, they would strike conversation together or talk about training and analyze what they were doing wrong.

The doorbell rang and when Naruto opened it he signed some piece of paper and then a few guys came in and dropped off the furniture and left after half an hour.

"So Hinata-chan what do you think of the new furniture?" Naruto asked as he was arranging books on the bookshelves in the living room.

" I really like it…. has a homey feeling to it" she smiled as she was carrying a box of books towards Naruto put lost her balance and fell on her back "Ouch" Hinata whimpered

" Hinata-Chan! Are you okay" Naruto was instantly was by her side as he pulled her up but used to much force that she ended up too close to him with his hand still on her arm.

Hinata's breath caught in her throat as she looked into his eyes and she gulped due to the space between them or more correctly the lack of it.

Naruto was not much better off he was looking into her eyes _" why do her eyes make me feel like this, its like they are drowning me and I like every bit of it, wait is she blushing? Could it be she feels something for me?"_ he knew he was blushing too from the heat he could feel on face.

Hinata thought as she too returned his gaze_ "What is he doing to me? Why can't I move? This is crazy he is been back only two days? I can't logically feel like this…why is he blushing? Why hasn't he pulled away yet?...this must end or am going to lose my mind"_

"Naruto-Kun…I have to go it's getting late" she said and he could feel her breath on his face as she spoke.

He let go of her arm and stepped back a few steps.

"Am so sorry Hinata…can I walk you home?" he wasn't really sure what is he apologizing for…

"ummm…its okay Naruto-Kun you don't need to do that I don't live that far but thank you for offering"

"Sure thing" he said and added as she held the door knop ready to leave "hey, Hinata-chain"

"Yes?"

"Thank you for the help, I really appreciate it"

"Your welcome Naruto-Kun, same time at the training filed tomorrow?" asked Hinata

"Yes, see you tomorrow" added Naruto before Hinata smiled and closed the door behind her.

Hinata took a deep breath after she closed the door behind her and walked home.

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	4. Struggle

******Disclaimer~ I do not own the rights to Naruto.**  


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**Chapter-4**

**Struggle**

She laid wide-awake in her bed for what must have been like two hours, when she got home she took a quick shower and tried to sleep, she has an early day tomorrow but sleep wouldn't come.

Every time she would close her eyes his image would appear and the whole situation would reply in her head, the way he was so close to her that she could feel his warmth, the way his eyes seemed to peer into her very soul she was both afraid and excited by the feelings she felt at that moment. She loved the way his wild blond hair fell over his eyes… oh his eyes they were definitely her favorite those blue things made her crazy. Did she really like him AGAIN! She just did not understand, it was not like this when she was younger.

She put her hands on her face tired of thinking so much _"Good thing I left when I did…"_ and drifted of to sleep finally.

He spent all morning finishing up with his apartment, he was officially moved in. a minute after he sulked on the sofa his doorbell rung and he had to get up to answer it.

"Good Afternoon Naruto"

"Hey there Sakura, how are you?" Naruto was surprised to see her here.

"I'm good Naruto, and you?"

"Am great, come on in" Naruto invited her in.

Sakura handed him a small plant and smiled "here you go, a house warming present"

"oh thanks!"

"WoW you moved in quick, the place looks great" Sakura added looking around.

"Am glad you like it, I just didn't want to stay in a hotel got enough of that during the last three years, I guess I just wanted to feel like am home".

"Your on your lunch break?" Naruto asked knowing that she has hospital shifts at this time.

"Yeah"

"I was about to make some instant ramen, would you like some?"

"Sure that would be great"

Naruto made the Ramen and they sat at his new dinning table

"So, how was the move? I wish you would have told me I would have helped…"

"It's alright wasn't too bad made a few clones to finish up quickly also, Hinata-Chan helped me yesterday but Thanks anyway"

"Hinata?"

"Yeah she is helping me with Chakra Control training, I was actually going to ask you but I ran into her first so…"

"She is very good at that you are in good hands, we are actually close friends now"

"Yeah?"

"We both work together at the hospital and she also was a student of Tsunade for like half a year so we got to work and train together quite a lot"

"Yeah she is Awesome" Naruto blushed as he remembered last night's incident.

"Naruto…are you blushing?"

"What?...no am not!"

"Oh my god you like Hinata!" Sakura declared wide-eyed "did something happen between you guys?" Sakura asked eyes narrowed and pretty much went into gossip mode.

"No" Naruto said coldly to convince her that nothing happened, technically nothing really did

"You should ask her out, she would say yes…." Added Sakura

There was silence for a minute then Naruto broke it

"How do you know that she would?" he asked struggling not to show that he really did like Hinata but also desperate for any help.

"Oh so you do like her! Hahaha trust me she will say yes"

"hnn" was all Naruto added still unsure.

"Well Naruto thank you for the meal, that was fun but I must get back to the hospital or Tsunade-Sama will freak out on me"

"Alright, be safe Sakura"

"See you later Naruto" Sakura said as she walked out of the apartment.

Naruto decided to walk around the village until it was time for his training with Hinata.

"_Okay so I do like her that's not a big deal, but does she like me? I don't want to ruin our friendship and make her uncomfortable" _Naruto thought as he was approaching the training field.

"Good afternoon Naruto-Kun" Hinata said sitting under a tree

"Hey you, someone is here on time…" Naruto said teasing her for being late the last time.

Hinata laughed and said "I do occasionally show up on time when no one is dying Naruto–Kun"

"So the same exercise?" Naruto asked already making the seal to make clones

"Aha" Hinata said as she nodded

He made 50 clones and Hinata's sweat dropped "ummm Naruto-Kun… Isn't that a bit much?"

"I figured this way I have less chakra which makes controlling easier and I learn faster"

"Good point" she said smiling at the simple but correct logic

"Oki so I was thinking on how to help you more with this exercise and maybe it would help to imagine the chakra that is flowing from your hand as strings that attach to the leaf and lift it up gently" Hinata instructed

"Alright" said all 50 clones in union, which made Hinata smile in amusement.

"So original Naruto, ready for me to kick your butt again?" Hinata said surprising Naruto

"You do know I was taking it easy on you yesterday…" said Naruto as a matter of fact

"Is that right?"

Naruto just smiled at that and the two started sparing, Naruto won this time.

"Now we are even" added Naruto in triumph.

"I let you win Naruto-Kun" said Hinata laughing

"Yeah am sure" added Naruto sarcastically

"Alright lets check what your small army is up to"

"Nice, they managed to lift it half as much as I did, that's quite impressive Naruto-Kun!"

"Will I do learn from the best" Naruto said as he winked at her.

That gesture made Hinata blush and Naruto thought _"there she goes blushing again!"_

"By the way I finished my apartment, do you want to see it we can have ramen for dinner?"

"ummm sure I'd love to see it but please no more Ramen!" Hinata mock pleaded

Naruto laughed at her expression "I guess that's fair, okay then what do you want to eat?"

"How about Sushi?" Hinata suggested

"Never tried it but sure, do you know a good place we can get some?" Naruto asked her as they were on their way back towered the village

"What do you mean you did not try it before? What have you been eating Naruto-Kun"

"Well incase you did not notice I do like Ramen"

"It's a Miracle your still alive with the way you eat! And yes there is a small place close to your place" Hinata added

They picked up some sushi and went to his apartment

"Naruto-kun the place looks amazing! …and Oh lookie we get to have dinner on a table too!" Hinata teased him about eating on the floor last time

"One time that happened!" Naruto shot back with mock hurt on his face.

They started eating and conversation soon started to flow they were more comfortable around each other now.

"So, how did you become this strong Hinata-chan?"

"Well that is a long story, my Aunt Tayo from lightening came to visit for the first time since my mother passed away and she decided she would train me, she was actually the one who gave me the tigers summoning contract; she is really tough, like bordering on insane tough but she has a big heart and I wouldn't be where I am without her"

"Those Tigers are scary! And I think the grey one hates me!" Naruto accused

Hinata laughed at his accusation " First of all, you summon Toads and that's disgusting I'll take scary any day, secondly, Sora does not hate you!"

"Yeah yeah…."

They talked for a bit more and then cleared the table.

"I should get going Naruto-kun it's getting late"

"Alright, this was fun so Thanks" Naruto replied awkwardly

They walked to the door and Hinata had her back to the wall next to the door as she was saying "Yeah it was fun and your welcome"

Naruto leaned forward and reached for the door knop to open the door for her but he got too close to her, close enough to smell the lavender in her hair and he looked up to see that she too was looking into his eyes. The sweet smell was making him dizzy and her eyes did not help with that.

He gulped as he realized he was leaning closer towards her, he noticed the slight blush that was forming on her cheeks and the slightest tremble of her lips as she drew in a sharp breath.

She was looking into his eyes deeply when she noticed that he was leaning in closer, invading her space further, she knew what was happing but she did not know how to stop it or maybe she did not want to stop it, she just knew that if this kept on going she would lose her mind.

Naruto was close enough to feel her body against his; it felt like electricity was going through his body, he was staring at her lips he was dying to feel them against his own he was so close too, she closed her eyes in anticipation and he took that as a sign that she was okay with this and he did the same, he barely brushed his lips to hers when the doorbell rang and the two jumped apart.

They were both breathing heavily and flushed, they looked at each other for a second and then averted their eyes quickly, Naruto took a deep breath and opened the door and was surprised to see Kakashi at the door.

"Kakashi-Sensei?"

"Yes Naruto, don't tell me you forgot all about me?" Kakashi mumbled from behind his book.

"Naruto-Kun I'll see you tomorrow" Hinata said as she rushed out of his apartment

Naruto was about to say see you but Hinata was already gone.

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Please Review ^_^


	5. Delicate Flowers

******Disclaimer~ I do not own the rights to Naruto.**  


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**Chapter-5**

**Delicate Flowers**

She fell on her back after she was hit by Niji's palm strike; her arm was throbbing from the closed chakra points in that area.

"Hinata-Sama, Focus! What is with you today?" asked Niji wondering at the lack of focus his cousin was showing this was the third time he managed to land a hit in the last half hour!

"Gomen Niji-Neesan, I don't know…I guess my mind is else where" Hinata was well aware where her mind was and the reason behind her lack of focus. From the moment she got up, not that she got much sleep to begin with, she was thinking of how close Naruto was to kissing her, the memory was too vivid for her to concentrate on anything else, every time she closed her eyes she could feel his lips brushing against hers ever so slightly that if her senses were not on such a high level of awareness she could swear that his lips never touched hers, if she goes insane that split second before Kakashi's knock would be where it all happened; however the moment of anticipation was the worst yet the best, her breath caught in her throat and she felt a swarm of butterflies in her stomach.

Hinata was deep in though as she and her cousin took a break _"How am I going to go see him today, am I supposed to act as if nothing happened or should we talk about what happened, oh god no definitely no talking! That conversation would be horrible, I'll just have to avoid him today, and I'll send Hana to tell him"_

"Niji-Neesan umm…I Know we just started but can we stop for today, I think I just need to clear my head, I'll go do some meditating and work on my medical jutsues if it's alright with you?"

"As you wish Hinata-Sama" was all Niji said

"Niji please stop calling me Sama, it really makes me uncomfortable and I think we are close enough that you can call me Hinata" Hinata dropped the honorific off his name just to stress her point.

"Alright Hinata Have a nice day. If we are done here then I'll go meet up with Tenten-Chan?" said Niji with what must have been his own version of a smile.

"Yes, Thank you. Say hi to Tenten for me please" Hinata said as Niji getting ready to leave.

When Niji left she summoned Hana.

"Hinata-Hime…" Hana said as a means of acknowledgment.

"Oh not you too Hana...please just Hinata there is no one around, there is no need to be formal" she stared at the tiger who had no reaction to what she just said so she continued "I need a favor, I need you to deliver a message to Naruto-kun please, can you tell him that I won't be able to meet him at 3 for training because am not feeling very well"

"Is he the blond one from the forest?" Hana asked already knowing the answer

"Yes" replied Hinata

"Till next time…Hinata" Hana said as she went on to look for Naruto.

Hinata headed towered the Garden to meditate and figure things out.

Naruto was training, he knew he has been slacking off the last couple of days but also he now needed to get his mind off of last night and what the better way to do this than to beat the hell out of one of his clones, he was at the training ground when Hana appeared.

Naruto did not know what to do with the tiger that was across from him just staring at him, as far as summonses go this one was a very intimidating one.

"Umm, can I help you?" Naruto said scratching the back of his head.

"I have a message from Hinata-Hime" replied Hana coldly.

"Really?" asked Naruto surprised.

"She said to tell you she would not be able to meet you for training today because she isn't feeling very well."

Before Naruto could ask her what was wrong with Hinata, Hana was already gone.

"_I know she is just avoiding me…why did I have to go and lean in and damn that Kakashi, worst timing ever…I have to fix this!" _thought Naruto before he went back to torturing his clones.

By noon Naruto was meditating, at least he was attempting to but every time he closed his eyes Hinata would come across his mind, just as he was about to give up on meditating a bird soared above him then slowly descended to land right in front of him. It was a messenger bird.

Naruto opened the message; it was a summoning to the Hokage's office but it was not marked urgent so he took his time walking over there enjoying the sight of the village at its busiest time of the day.

When he got to the Hokage's tower one of the guards announced his presence to Tsunade and he was ushered into her office by the guard.

"Naruto-kun! It's been too long" said Shizuni who was standing behind Tsunad's chair holding TonTon.

"Shizuni-Neechan, how are you!...far too long" said Naruto as he flashed her on of his grins.

"How about we say hello to the Hokage Naruto?" Tsunade said jokingly as she sat back in her chair seeing the exchange between the two

Naruto smiled and said "Hello Obaa-chan"

"Tsk…alright, I as you can see am being tortured by this pile of paper work so I will make this brief, Naruto… you're the only one who hadn't made Chunin from your class"

"I was training!" Naruto feeling like he needed to defend him self against what he imagined as an accusation.

"Relax Naruto am not saying your weak, am just suggesting we do something about it!" Tsunade leaned forward, put her elbows on her disk and intertwined her fingers and rested her chin on her hands "the reports Jiraya wrote reflect the training you have been through and the level that you have achieved, and since it was Jiraya that trained you, am quite confident about the accuracy of that report…therefore am welling to do something that is rarely done and I'll give you chance to earn the Chunin title individually, you will have a match with Kakashi tomorrow so be ready at training ground 12 at 9 in the morning."

"Are you serious? That is…AWSOME!" Naruto said with excitement that showed his old self.

"Now scram out of here because if I don't finish this pile of papers Shizuni won't tell me where she hid my Sake" Tsunade said as she glared at Shizuni.

Naruto laughed at that and said goodbyes to both Tsunade and Shizuni.

As he left the Tower he thought of getting Hinata some flowers as an apology and telling her about becoming a Chunin, he remembered Jiraya telling him about how much girls like flowers so he went to Ino's family flower shop.

"Good Morning" said Naruto as he entered the shop.

"Morning" said Ino from behind the counter in a bored voice without lifting her head from the magazine she was reading.

"How are you Ino-Chan?" said Naruto smiling at his friend who he hasn't seen in a long time.

Ino looked up when she heard her name and looked puzzled for a second "Naruto! When did you get back?" yelled Ino in a way that made Naruto wince.

"A few days ago Actually" he said already used to this line of conversation from all the people he ran into that recognized him since he has been back.

"Welcome home then…so how can I help you Naruto?" Ino smiled at him.

"I was hoping to get a bouquet of flowers" stated Naruto

"ohhh, breaking hearts already Naruto? You don't waste time now do you?" Ino teased as she winked at him

Naruto blushed a little at that before he can say anything at that the bell on the door made a sound indicating that a customer has come into the store.

"Okay Naruto why don't you look around and I'll be with you in just a minuet" Ino said as she went to tend to the other customer.

Naruto nodded and went to look at the different kind of flowers he stopped at some white Gardenias _"These remind of Hinata, maybe gentle and delicate like her?"_ Naruto thought but continued to look at the other flowers and stopped at some purple-blue Hydrangeas and thought _"but those remind me of her eyes…man Hinata really did a number on me"_.

"So Naruto, did you decide on what you want?" asked Ino as she put the cash from the other customer into the registrar.

"Umm…I like both of these but I don't know which to pick" Naruto said as he pointed at the two types of flowers.

"There both good choices…hmm how about an arrangement of both?" said as she looked at him

"Why the hell not" Naruto smiled

He chatted a little with Ino about his Journey and then Ino told him the flowers were on the house as a welcome home present, he thanked her and was on his way to the Hyuuga compound.

"Hinata-Sama"

Hinata was setting on the floor of the Hyuuga Library with scrolls scattered all around her and was actually writing something in a notebook.

"Yes, Kawmi-san" Hinata answered without looking up.

"Uzumaki Naruto is here to see you" stated with a calm voice

Hinata's pencil tip broke at the pressure she put on it while writing "What?, Naruto-Kun Is here?" Hinata asked as she looked at the Hyuuga servant with panic in her eyes.

"Yes, he is at the entrance" said Kawmi in his soft tone

Hinata was silent for a second _"This is bad, he knows am avoiding him!...Oki claim down Hinata you can do this…"_

"Umm, okay I'll be right there. Thank you Kawmi-San" Hinata said as she got up and put the scrolls on a table and she went to the entrance of the Hyuuga and thought _"here we go…"_

"Good afternoon Naruto-Kun" Hinata said softly

"Good afternoon Hinata-Chan" said Naruto and then there was a momentary awkward silence before Hinata said "shall we go to the garden?" but she did not wait for an answer and walked towards the garden and Naruto followed. The sounds of his steps behind her made her even more nervous. When they got to the garden they sat next to each other on a bench with some distance between them.

Then there was another awkward silence.

Naruto suddenly shoved the bouquet of flowers awkwardly towards her in a way that made her lean back for a second before she took the flowers from him still surprised.

"You…you got me flowers?" asked Hinata touched at how beautiful they were.

"Umm I just wanted to say am really sorry about last night and I thought you might like the flowers" then he looked around in the garden and added "but of course you have a garden full of them so sorry about that too"

"No no no…they are really beautiful Naruto. Thank you" said Hinata really loving the flowers and blushing at the fact that he got her flowers.

"Seriously though am really sorry about last night I don't know what came over me" Naruto said again.

Hinata blushed at the memory of last night and was embarrassed to say anything so Naruto went on feeling like he needed to explain and stood up and paced back and forth in front of her.

Naruto gulped "Hinata-Chan…its just that ever since I came back I feel…"

"Its just that when ever am around you or look into your eyes…"

"I just can't get you out of my mind!" he finally said as he turned to see her reaction.

To his dismay she blushed a very scarlet red and lowered her head slightly attempting to hide her blush.

"_Did I hear that right? Is he saying what I think he is sayi…oh god he is looking at me in that way again…"_ Hinata thought as her breathing increased from both his confession and the look.

"N..Naruto-Kun…" she weakly said unable to find her voice _"great now am stuttering!..."_

"Hinata-Chan am really sorry that I made you uncomfortable…I just don't want you to avoid me" said Naruto

"_It's time to throw the towel Hinata"_ Hinata thought to herself as she took a deep breath and finally gave in to the fact that she did like Naruto she was however aware that she didn't "Love " him like she was convinced when she was younger.

"Naruto-Kun don't be sorry…its not your fault…I…I could have stopped you…" Hinata admitted blushing while averting her gaze to some flowers in the distance.

"_She is not mad?...does that mean she likes me?"_ Naruto's eyes lit at that thought and at the hidden meaning her words carried.

"Hinata-Chan" Naruto said softly as he went back to sit next to her on the bench a little bit closer this time.

"Yes, Naruto-Kun?" Hinata Looked up and got caught in the sky blue of his eyes, she felt like she could fly into them.

"Would you maybe…want to go out with me umm you know as a…date?" Naruto said looking back into her eyes trying to guess her answer before she said it.

She blushed and diverted her eyes to the flowers in her lap "yes Naruto-Kun, I'd love that" she said as she looked back into his eyes. The fact that they both now were aware of their feelings towards each other made the atmosphere a little thick and awkward as the question of "what now?" remained unspoken.

"Oh I didn't tell you, Tsunade-Obaa-chan said I can become Chunin if I win in a fight against Kakashi-Sensei tomorrow, you know…as an individual test" Naruto said desperate to break the silence.

"Really?...That's great Naruto-Kun!" she smiled him and then she added "now you won't be the only one left that doesn't have a Chunin vest" she said teasing him.

Naruto pouted and had a mock hurt expression on his face "you know, Words hurt Hina-Chan"

Hinata smiled at him warmly as she blushed at his nickname for her.

"So Hina-Chan shall I pick you up the day after tomorrow at 8 PM?" Naruto asked with a big smile

"For what?" Hinata asked calmly as she faked a confused expression.

Naruto's smile fell.

Hinata laughed at his cuteness "Am Joking Naruto-kun…8 is perfect, I can't wait"

Naruto decided that he loved Hinata's Laugh.

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Author note:

I just want to say thank you to all the people who favorited my story your keeping me motivated :D


	6. Fox's Trickery

**Author's Note: **

**Hey everyone sorry for the delay, got busy with a few things also was stuck a little on this chapter.**

**I reviewed the previous chapters and I've gotta say am ashamed at the amount of mistakes in them :S, so i fixed all that my eyes can see, hope there isn't many left and i apologize for the ones i missed :(**

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**Disclaimer~ I don't own the Rights to Naruto.**

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**Chapter-6**

**Fox's Trickery**

Naruto was leaning against a tree in Training filed, he was fifteen minutes early for his fight with Kakashi even though he knew that Kakashi would be late, he was just too excited to wait.

While waiting for Kakashi he started planning his date with Hinata, just the thought of that date made his stomach turn it was a strange and exciting feeling; he can't take her for Ramen that was for sure.

"_She did say she liked Sushi…"_ Naruto thought _" but I don't know anyplace that's close by that is appropriate for a date...hnn this is going to be harder than I thought…maybe Sakura-Chan can help me find a place, yeah I'll ask her after this"._

"Naruto, you haven't started yet with Kakashi?" Tsunade said from behind Naruto

"Obaa-Chan?...why are you here?" Naruto replied.

"What do you mean why am I here? To observe of course, do you think am going to make you Chunin without seeing what you can do first…" Tsunade looked at him as if he was had just said something ridiculous.

"Oh…" Naruto said as he scratched the back of his head and added "Kakashi-Sensei is not here yet, he is late as usual"

"Tsk…that masked-idiot I thought that he would at least show up on time when it was an order from the Hokage" Tsunade complained.

"Hokage-Sama, your words hurt more than your punches" Kakashi stated from behind his book while leaning on the tree that was next to Tsunade.

"Oh really Kakashi? Want to put your body where your mouth is?" said Tsunade while grinning evilly.

Kakashi's sweat dropped.

"No" he said as he snapped his book shut and straightened up.

"I thought so, now why were you late?" asked Tsunade

"Well you se…."

"Let me guess a cat was stuck on a tree?" Naruto interrupted as he stood up and dusted himself off.

"No, it was actually something else"

"What then?" asked the Hokage.

"I was helping an old lady cross the street"

"LIAR" Both Naruto and Tsunade yelled in union.

Kakashi just laughed as he scratched the back of his head.

"Anyhow, let us not waste anymore time, Kakashi explain the rules to Naruto and start already" Tsunade stated as she jumped into a tree branch and sat there to observe.

"Naruto the rules are simple, you need to get the bell from me, however you must do that in the time limit of one hour, if you fail to do so you unfortunately will remain a Genin until the next official Chunin exam." Kakashi explained.

Before Naruto can say anything Kakashi suddenly lifted his headband off of his left eye, which made Naruto alarmed.

"Begin" Kakashi said as he threw a kunai at Naruto that hit his left arm.

Naruto poofed out of existence and Kakashi smirked.

"_Damn he is not wasting anytime and he is already using his Sharingan" _the real Naruto thought hiding behind one of the trees_ "Relax, you don't need to defeat him you just need to get the bell, yeah I just need a good plan"_

Naruto made four clones as he spotted Kakashi in a somewhat open area; the four clones ran towards Kakashi and stopped suddenly, two of the clones extended their hand as the other two formed chakra into their extended hands.

Kakashi's eyebrow arched _"using Rasengan already?"_ but Kakashi was surprised when the clones holding the Rasengans jumped in the air and the other two clones grabbed their legs and spun them around and released them towards him while yelling out in union "Rasengan bombarding" and the clones went flying towards Kakashi.

"If that so much as touches me am done for" just s split second before it was too late Kakashi jumped back a few meters and was distracted by the somewhat small crater the clones and their Rasengans left in the ground, the real Naruto used this distraction to dive out from behind the tree behind Kakashi with his kunai in hand and attacked Kakashi who turned into a tree log the moment of impact.

"Tsk…" Naruto whispered as Kakashi suddenly dropped towards him from the tree above as he clearly intended to use this momentum to land a kick on Naruto who jumped back on his hands and the second his feet hit the ground charged at Kakashi again throwing his kunai at him to free up his hand to make the seal for clones. Kakashi deflected the Kunai coming towards him with the one he was holding as he noticed that now there were three Narutos coming towards him, he ducked down to deliver a low sweep to one of the clones and it poofed out as he threw a kunai at another one that also disappeared, Kakashi threw a punch at Naruto who ducked very low intending to deliver a low kick to Kakashi when his eyes landed on the bell hanging by a string on Kakashi's waist, the bell was flowing in the wind with reaction to Kakashi's movement, something clicked in Naruto's head and he thought _"I've got it"_ as he executed a low kick to Kakashi who jumped and tucked his legs closer to his chest, Naruto jumped back a bit.

"_I need a distraction" _Naruto thought _"it needs to be big"_

"Well Naruto if your going to attack me which a Rasengan this soon, maybe I should repay your kindness" Kakashi said to Naruto as he made a series of seals in a blinding speed and said "Katon Hōsenka no Jutsu" and he blew small fireballs at Naruto who was dodging them barely due to their speed and then Kakashi blew two more fireballs right after each other the last of which burned the top of Naruto's shoulder while he tried to get out of its way, Naruto winced at the pain coming from his shoulder.

In a distant tree branch Tsunade thought, _"isn't this a little bit too much?" _as she shook her head at the two.

"Kakashi-Sensei that was my favorite jacket!" Naruto stated pouting.

Kakashi smirked at his comment.

"_Okay so I still have two clones hidden in the woods" _Naruto thought as he was forming a plan.

He made the seal for clones and made two more clones and extended his hand as the two clones started wielding the Chakra into his hand.

Kakashi eyes winded in surprise _"Two clones for one Rasengan, what is he up to now?" _

The Rasengan that formed in his hands was slightly different from his usual Rasengan, this one had four white small blades around it and the two clones disappeared as Naruto launched forward towards Kakashi while yelling "Wind Release: Rasengan" just as Kakashi was jumping out of the way another clone jumped from the trees behind him and looped his arms from under his shoulder and clasped his two hands behind Kakashi's neck effectively locking him in place.

"_Damn how did that clone sneak past me?"_ Kakashi thought eyes _wide "I need to get out of the way"._

While Naruto was closing in on him a clone jumped out of the ground right from under Kakashi and the clone's hand was headed for the bell on Kakashi's waist. Realizing that Kakashi planted his feet on the ground and turned around with clone still locking his arms he spun around effectively hitting the Naruto on his back with the one running towards him and both of them disappeared and Kakashi jumped back with the third Naruto being so close to grasping the bell.

"That was close" Kakashi stated as he stood not too far away from Naruto.

Naruto just smirked at him as he bent down and picked a bell from the ground and held it in front of Kakashi and grinned at him "Think again Kakashi-Sensei".

Kakashi looked down at where his bell used to be a second ago and the string was torn with nothing there "I'm pretty sure you didn't touch it, how did that happen?" Kakashi asked as he smiled and lowered the headband over his eye again.

"Chakra, it's a neat trick isn't it?" answered Naruto still grinning.

"You have grown Naruto, am proud of you" Kakashi smiled at him already reaching for his book

Naruto smiled and scratched the back of his head.

"Tsunade-Sama, are you satisfied?" asked Kakashi as Tsunade jumped from the tree.

"Yeah I am, although the two of you went a little over bored" Tsunade said looking at Naruto's burned Jacket.

"Anyhow, Naruto congratulating you're a Chunin" Tsunade announced as she smiled and ruffled his hair.

"WHOOOOO" Naruto yelled as he jumped up in the air.

"Just pass by tomorrow so we can make it official and do all the paper work also so that you receive you Chunin Vest" she sighed and added "got get back to my pile of paperwork congrats again Naruto" she headed for the Hokage tower not at all in a hurry to sit behind that damn disk behind the seemingly endless mountains of papers.

"Did you have breakfast?" declared Kakashi from behind his book.

Naruto Smirked at that "not really"

"Alright then lets go have a late breakfast, your treat"

"Fair enough since I won" Naruto said gloating.

As Naruto and Kakashi had breakfast, Naruto told him about his adventures while travelling with Jiraya and about all the things he learned while Kakashi questioned him about the rumors of Jiraya publishing another book for the perverted series to which Naruto pretended he didn't hear the questions.

"Well thanks for the meal Naruto, congrats on becoming Chunin" said Kakashi as he waived with one hand and held up his book with the other"

"Thanks, See you later Kakashi-Sensei"

"_I should go train a bit more, then buy some groceries drop them at home, there was nothing in my fridge for breakfast this morning, then I'll go pick Hina-Chan from the hospital before we go train" _Naruto smiled as he thought of Hinata.

He was setting on a bench in front of the hospital with a leaf floating slightly above his palm as he waited for Hinata to finish her shift but the leaf was torn in half when Sakura startled him

"Naruto? What re you doing here?" Sakura asked as she approached him.

"Hnn Sakura-Chan I was so close to lifting it as high as Hina-Chan!" Naruto complained

"No you weren't" replied Sakura as a matter of a fact being familiar with that technic. _"Hina-Chan? How cute"_ Sakura thought as she smirked

"Hnnn…" was all Naruto said as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"So what are you doing here?" Sakura asked again.

"Oh, I'm just waiting for Hina-Chan to finish her shift, we have training" and then he grinned and added "Sakura-Chan I became Chunin today!"

"Really? You took the bell from Kakashi-Sensei? That's great" Sakura said as she hugged him and added "Congratulations Naruto".

"Naruto-Kun?" Hinata said from behind him. _"Why are they hugging? And why is that bothering me so much?"_ Hinata thought to herself.

"Hina-Chan!" Naruto said as he released Sakura.

"I thought we were meeting at the training ground?" added Hinata as she gave him a slight smile.

"Oh I thought I'd pass by and we could walk there together…" Naruto blushed lightly at his confession that he just wanted to spend more time with her.

"Oh…" was all Hinata could say she looked at her feet blushing lightly.

Sakura knowing how Hinata felt about Naruto, she thought it would be best to explain to her friend why she was hugging her long time crush "Hinata, Guess What? Naruto's a Chunin now! He just passed his test, I was just congratulating him" she smiled at her friend.

"Naruto-Kun Congratulation! Ramen is on me after we train" Hinata smiled warmly at him and winked.

"Really?" Naruto got excited at the mention of Ramen.

"Sure, you only become Chunin once Naruto-kun" Hinata Smiled then turned to Sakura "Sakura would you come with us?"

"Sure but I'll meet you at the Ramen stand I've got training with Tsunade now"

"Okay Sakura meet you there at 6".

"Alright, see you later" Sakura said as she waived and started running towards the training grounds before Tsunade chewed her out god knows how she gets without her Sake.

"So, Naruto-kun how was your fight with Kakashi-Sensei?" Hinata asked as they started walking to their training spot.

"Oh it wasn't too bad, he burned my favorite Jacket though" Naruto said while pouting at the memory of his burned jacket as he turned his shoulder to show Hinata.

"Naruto-Kun let me see that it got to your skin" Hinata said already reaching for his shoulder with a worried look on her face.

"Its fine Hina-Chan am a fast healer its really nothing" Naruto dismissed her worries already turning back to walk straight ahead.

"Don't be silly you got burned, let me see the burn" Hinata insisted.

Naruto turned his shoulder towards Hinata again "see it already healed"

Hinata looked at the burn under the burned clothe of his jacket it was healed only leaving a scar that will disappear in a few days.

"How can it heal this fast, did Sakura heal it already?" asked Hinata confused.

"No, I've just always healed quickly" Naruto smiled at her and then added "Never mind that I guess I should thank you, without you I wouldn't have been able to win this fight."

Hinata was surprised "me? What do you mean?"

"Well that leaf exercise really helped me out" Naruto explained

"Really? Am glad I could help Naruto-Kun even though am sure you would have figured something out regardless"

"Don't be so humble Hina-Chan" Naruto smiled as he nudged her slightly with his elbow.

Hinata smiled at his playfulness.

* * *

I Just want to say thanx to the people who reviewed my story, i really appreciate it.

BladedSylph thanks for the helpful tips, please keep them coming :D and i hope this chapter has detail enough of the fight.

Please Review ^_^ The reviews keep me really motivated.


	7. Nerves

**Disclaimer~ I Don't Own the Rights to Naruto.**

* * *

**Chapter-7**

**Nerves**

The Sunrays were piercing the window of his bedroom as he was lying on his bed arms crossed under his head; it would have disturbed his sleep had he not been up for a while now. Today was his date with Hinata.

"_I hope she likes the place Sakura recommended, maybe she would like to take a walk and have some Dessert after that. Good thing Gama-Chan is full or else this date would have been an embarrassing one"_

He got out of bed and got ready for his training.

* * *

"Your up early?" asked Hanabi as she stopped by the garden on her way to the dojo to train.

"Umm yeah, couldn't sleep much last night, your training with father?" Hinata asked already knowing the answer to her question.

Hanabi just nodded and said "See you later Hinata".

"Good luck" Hinata said already turning back to continue watering the flowers and thought _"such a beautiful morning"._

* * *

"Naruto-san, Good Morning, I see the fire of youth burns through you in this beautiful morning!"

Naruto stopped his training with his clones and said "Lee! How are you?"

"I am great, thank you, say Naruto-san would you care to for a spar? I'd love to see how strong your fire burns?"

"Actually that sounds great, I was supposed to train with Hina-Chan but she has an extra shift at the hospital so am free".

"Am in luck then" Lee said as he took off his Chunin vest and dropped under the tree next to Naruto's Jacket.

"But we have to finish this in two hours, I need to pass by the Hokage's tower" Naruto added.

"No Problem, I shall defeat you quickly then?" Lee added smirking.

Naruto laughed at that "Pushy brows…lets get wild" as he smirked as will.

The spar was a testament to both Ninja's stamina, they were at it non-stop until Naruto said that he had to leave.

"Let's do this again" Naruto added as he picked up his jacket.

"Of course, you are a worthy opponent Naruto-san"

Naruto ran to the Hokage's office, he still needed to take a shower and get ready for the date.

* * *

"So Hinata, any planes for the rest of the day?" Sakura asked evilly while she and Hinata made their routine rounds in the Hospital.

"Yeah, how about you?" Hinata blushed lightly as she recalled those planes and tried to deflect the question but that didn't escape Sakura who already knew about the date since Naruto asked her for advice on where to take Hinata.

"Ehh nothing special, might go out with Ino later, wanna come with?" Sakura asked again as she smiled and looked at the patient's chart.

"Maybe next time, Thanks though" Hinata replied keeping a straight face.

Sakura smiled at her stubborn friend as she started a physical check on her last patient of the day.

"Well Hinata my shift's over so am out of here. Are you staying for long?"

"Umm no not really" Hinata checked the clock on the wall "just one more hour" Hinata smiled.

"Alright, see you tomorrow Hinata"

"See you, say hi to Ino for me"

"Oh and Hinata…"

"Yes?" Hinata looked up from the chart in her hand.

"Have fun" Sakura winked as she waved and headed out.

Hinata blushed and thought _"could she know?"_ she looked at the clock again, she was starting to feel really nervous _"and I haven't decided on what am going to wear too!"_ Hinata thought while reading the same sentence on the chart for the fourth time.

* * *

"Hello Naruto-kun" Shizuni greeted Naruto.

"Hello Shizuni-Neechan" Naruto smiled at her.

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun, Tsunade-Sama is not here right now but she told me to expect you, I have a few paper you need to sign as well as some forms you need to fill and then you're an official Chunin" Shizuni explained as she smiled and brought a big amount of paperwork for Naruto.

Naruto's eyebrow twitched at the big pile "What's all this?"

"Bureaucracy" Shizuni added laughing.

Naruto made four clones and started reading, signing and filling out the needed paperwork.

After half an hour Naruto was done "all done" as he announced to Shizuni.

"Naruto you are now officially a Chunin leaf ninja, congratulation" Shizuni smiled at him as she handed him his Chunin vest.

"Thank you!" Naruto took off his jacket and put on the vest on top of his grey T-shirt.

"Look at you so handsome" Shizuni teased him and Naruto smiled as he scratched the back of his head.

"_Oki I really need to home and get ready or I'll be late!"_ Naruto thought as he was heading out of the tower.

* * *

Hinata looked at her closet, what was left of it anyway, most of it was on her bed _"what am I going to wear, he is going to be here in less than half an hour!"_ she went back to her bed and picked up a baby blue skirt _"No, too causal"_ and she dropped it back on the bed and was about to pick another item when there was a knock on her bedroom door "Hinata?" Hanabi whispered behind the door.

"Come in Hanabi"

"I was about to mak…" Hanabi stopped mid-sentence when she saw her sister's room "What is going on? Are you going out?"

"Umm yes"

"What's with all of this?" Hanabi asked pointing at the piles of clothes on her bed.

"I Just can't figure out what to wear…" Hinata smiled embarrassed as she scratched her cheek with her index finger.

Hanabi looked at her with narrowed eyes "Hinata…who are you going out with?"

Hinata felt nervous at her question _"should I tell her?"_ as she turned her back to Hanabi and looked at the pile of clothes again to hide her nervousness.

Hinata and Hanabi grew closer in the past years, Hinata have speculated that it was because they didn't spar or compete with each other anymore, it sort of took off the pressure that weighed on their relationship. It took them a while to get to where they were now, this way each of them got to be their own person and they did not allow clan politics to interfere.

Hinata turned back to face her sister who was still by the doorway "umm I sort of have a…date" Hinata blushed and bit her bottom lip.

Hanabi did not say anything for a moment then loudly said "Are you serious?"

Hinata rushed to her sister and yanked her inside the room and closed the door "shhhh! I don't want father to know…yet".

"Why not? He is been throwing suitor after suitor your way, he would be delighted to know you actually have an interest in men" Hanabi stated and smirked at her sister rolling her eyes at her comment.

"I have a feeling that Naruto-kun is not on his list of suitors for me…"

"Wait, is he the one that defeated Niji-nii-san in the Chunin exam?" asked Hanabi and Hinata nodded.

"Oh come on Hinata that Orange Jacket, really?" Hanabi expressed her disapproval by shaking her head.

"Be nice Hanabi!" Hinata pouted at her sister's comment "now will you be actually helpful and help me choose something to wear" Hinata picked up two items for her sister to choose from "so which one?"

"Hmmm that one" Hanabi said as she pointed at the dress Hinata was holding.

"I thought so too" Hinata added as she smiled.

"Oki well I'll let you get ready" Hanabi said as she headed for the door but stopped before closing it behind her and added "oh and by the way your in luck father won't be home until tomorrow, he is out of the village for clan business".

She glanced at the clock on the wall before she hurriedly got ready.

* * *

Naruto reached the Hyuuga compound ten minutes early and thought _"hnn I don't want to seem desperate, at least not on the first date"_ so he didn't go in and instead walked around the compound for a bit _"I hope I don't mess this up, I don't exactly have much experience in this…"_ Naruto thought as he approached the Hyuuga gate again and was greeted by the guard "Uzumaki-San, right this way, Hinata-Sama is expecting you" the guard started walking towards the front entrance and Naruto followed awkwardly not used to this life style _"yeah I really hope I don't mess this up…"_

When they got to the main house the guard opened the door for Naruto and went back to his station.

"Uzumaki-San, Hinata-Sama will be right down please take a seat" another guard informed him.

"Oh Oki, Thank you" Naruto sat at the sofa that was at the entrance and looked around before a little girl turned around the corner.

"Hello, I'm Uzumaki Naruto" Naruto stood up as he greeted the little girl.

"Hi, I'm Hanabi, Hinata's sister" Hanabi introduced herself _"he's changed, I can see why Hinata likes him"_ Hanabi thought and blushed a little and then added, "Hinata says she will be right down"

"Alright" he sat back down" and felt awkward because Hanabi just stood there and stared at him so he broke the silence "so Hanabi-san how old are you?".

"I'm twelve" Hanabi answered calmly.

"hmm that's the same as Konohamaru, you must know him then?"

"Yes" was all that Hanabi said.

Naruto smiled and just said "Okay".

"Hello Naruto-kun" Hinata said getting his attention as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

Naruto stood up quickly and stared at her "…Hello Hina-Chan, you look…beautiful".

Hinata blushed at his complement "Thank you".

"_She is really beautiful, much more than I thought…is that possible?" _Naruto thought as he stared at her.

She was wearing a light lemon colored dress that stopped a little below her knees with a small white long sleeved jacket on top and white flat shoes.

Naruto was wearing black pants with a midnight blue button up shirt that he didn't tuck in and left the too top buttons unbuttoned.

Hanabi cleared her throat when the two just looked at each other not saying anything.

They both blushed a little and Naruto said "shall we?" as he held the door open for Hinata

"Yes" Hinata said as she glanced back at her sister who smirked and winked at her "See you later Hanabi"

"It was nice to meet you Hanabi-san" Naruto said as he was about to leave.

Hanabi just nodded.

The two walked in silence until they were out of the compound then Naruto shoved his hands in his pockets and said "So…Hina-Chan, how was your day?".

"It was alright, nothing interesting. How about you Naruto-kun?" Hinata said glancing at him from the corner of her eye.

"Well since you ditched me for training I had to figure out something else to do, luckily lee was passing by and we trained for a little bit' Naruto said teasing her for not training with him today.

Hinata softly laughed at that and said "I had to work!"

"Excuses excuses" Naruto said as he shook his head then his lips broke into a small smile.

Hinata laughed "who won?"

"We reached an impasse, besides I had to go to the Hokage's office to make my Chunin status official, man that's a lot of paper work"

"Yeah I remember, but that's good news, Congratulation Naruto-kun" she said smiling at him.

Then there was silence again.

Hinata started this time "umm Naruto-kun, where are we going?"

"To a restaurant for dinner, then I thought maybe we could take a walk in the park? That's if you want to of course"

"That sounds lovely"

"I hope you like the restaurant, its this little cozy place that Sakura recommended"

"Sakura? You told her that we are going on a date?" Hinata asked blushing a little that he was telling people about this.

"Uhh, yes…was I not supposed to?" Naruto asked nervously.

"No no that's okay, huh that's why she was acting weird today and asking me all those questions."

"I just wanted to take you somewhere nice but I didn't know where, besides I only know the Ramen stand so…"

"Am sure the Restaurant will be lovely, and thank you for not taking me for Ramen…again" Hinata said joking as she smiled at him.

Naruto laughed at her dislike for his favorite food.

They were final at the Restaurant, and a waiter showed them to their table.

"Its really lovely Naruto-Kun" Hinata said as she looked around.

The place had wooden floors and brick red painted walls; the art on the walls gave a homey nature to the place. There weren't too many tables, the place wasn't that big to start with and Hinata loved it specially the faint music playing in the background.

The waiter came over and handed them their menus and then left again.

"Yay, they have Ramen!" Naruto said a little too loudly and Hinata laughed at his ridiculous attachment to that dish as she shook her head while looking back down at the menu in her hands. She pretended to read the menu but she was looking at Naruto _"He looks really good, I have never seen him out of his Ninja gear. God I haven't been this nervous in a long time!"_

The waiter came again and asked if they were ready to order.

Naruto looked at Hinata to see if she decided what she wants and she nodded so Naruto turned to the waiter and said "Yes we are" and then added "I'll have one pork Ramen"

"And I'll have the grilled fish with vegetables on the side please" Hinata said softly.

After the waiter left, there was another awkward silence.

"Hanabi-San looks a lot like you when we were back at the academy" Naruto stated out of nowhere.

"Really? I've always thought she resembled my father and I my mother" Hinata smiled then added "besides I haven't changed that much…have I?"

Naruto Smiled and looked into her eyes "well now your really beautiful…not that then you weren't then, its just that now …" he just sighed and blushed.

Hinata's face went scarlet red from his words and the look he gave her and disparately trying to change the subject Hinata started "Actually me and Hanabi we didn't used to get along until recently"

"How come?"

"Well clan politics, competition and the pressure that was put on both of us to be at a certain level did not help our relationship growing up, but now we have managed to find a way around all that".

"Am glad to hear that" Naruto said.

Silence.

"So Hina-Chan, you already know my favorite food, tell me yours" Naruto said randomly due to the lack of conversation.

Hinata smiled warmly at his gesture to keep the conversation flowing "am more of a sweet tooth myself, I'd say cinnamon rolls are my favorite"

"I've never had one of those before, they look good though"

"They really are"

"Okay my turn, what's your favorite Jutsu?" asked Hinata turning this into a game.

"Hmm, Rasengan but I use the cloning jutsu more, how about you?"

"The summoning jutsu"

"How nice, the hatful tigers" Naruto said sarcastically.

"I don't know why you think my tigers hate you, they really don't" Hinata defended Hana and Sora.

"Oh please! The one that delivered your message that other day when you were trying to avoid me didn't say hello or goodbye or anything"

"I wasn't trying to avoid you" Hinata mumbled as she pouted and fiddled with the silver ware on the table.

Naruto chuckled at that "Its okay, I understand why you would do that"

"Your turn" Hinata said trying to change the subject again.

"Favorite color?"

"Lavender and I assume yours is orange?"

Naruto smiled cheaply "yeah, I guess that one is obvious"

As Hinata was about to ask another question the waiter came and brought their orders.

They ate an continued their conversation without any more of the awkward silence, they were much more relaxed than at the beginning but you could still see that they were both nervous, Naruto chocked on a piece of meat while Hinata spilled over a glass of water.

Naruto paid and said "We can go pick up some cinnamon rolls and take a walk in the park, if you'd like?"

"Sure, that sounds great"

They picked up the cinnamon rolls and walked to the park and sat on one of the benches facing a small pond.

"These are really good!" Naruto said amazed at the sweet treat in his hands.

"I know! I can't believe you are using my ultimate weakness against me already" Hinata said teasing him and added "If I get fat it's going to be all your fault!"

"Fat pfft, yeah right…"

Hinata smiled.

They were walking around the park after finishing their desserts and Hinata started "so now that your Chunin are you going back to taking missions?"

"I hope so, am not very comfortable with all this free time, but I'm glad that I had enough time now to get to know you better…" Naruto smiled at her when his words made her blush slightly and she said "yeah, I'm glad too".

Naruto brushed the back of his hand against hers just to see if that would bother her but when she didn't pull away he intertwined his fingers with hers.

"Is this okay?...I don't want to make you uncomfortable" Naruto asked turning to see her face.

Hinata blushed at the attention he was giving her and bit her lip and said "Its fine Naruto-kun, it doesn't make me uncomfortable" and she squeezed his hand a little to assure him.

Hinata loved how Warm his hand was and how it made her stomach turn with butterflies, she was both scared and excited by that feeling, after all it was a totally new territory for her.

"_Her hand is so soft and small, I've never really noticed how big my hand was…"_ Naruto thought.

Silence fell on them again as they both walked towards her house but it was a silence that they welcomed, it was a comfortable one.

* * *

**BladedSylph: Thanx for keeping me motivated i really appreciate it! ^_^**

**People please Review, I need the motivation T_T**


	8. Confessions

******Disclaimer~ I do not own the rights to Naruto.**

* * *

Sorry for the long delay i just felt like i was a little stuck on the story, hopefully that won't happen again.

* * *

**Chapter-8**

**Confessions**

She gazed at the moon through the window of her bedroom as she lay on her bed, lately sleep hasn't been keeping her company much, too many thoughts. It really was all Naruto's fault; after all her thoughts centered around him not that she would admit it of course. Hinata sighed as she recalled the end of her date with Naruto again.

He had walked her back to her house but they stopped far enough from the guards, he still engulfed her hand in his, her stomach turned just thinking about how warm it was.

Naruto looked into her eyes "I really had fun Hina-Chan" Naruto scratched the back of his head with his free hand and added "Maybe we can do it again, if you want that is?"

"_They are so blue…"_ Hinata thought as his eyes captivated her.

"I...I had fun too Naruto-Kun, I'd love to do this again" Hinata felt frustrated at the little stuttering slip.

Naruto brushed his thump over the back of her hand; she blushed from the shiver his callused hand sent though her as it brushed her soft skin.

They stood there for a moment just staring in each other's eyes.

"I guess I should let you go now huh?" Naruto said disappointment obvious in his expression, still holding her hand he asked "I'll see you tomorrow at 3?"

"Oh about that sorry but my aunt is coming back tomorrow and am sure she would like to catch up on my training, but I'll find a way for us to keep our training, maybe we can do mornings instead."

"So you're ditching me two days in a row…" Naruto said with a mock hurt expression.

"Aww don't say that...it's just Auntie will bite my head off if I skip training".

"I know…but I'll miss you" Naruto said as he looked back into her eyes and blushed slightly at his words.

Hinata was surprised by his words "M…Me too" Hinata managed to say as she blushed deeply.

"Oki how about you let me take you to lunch on your break?"

"I'd love that"

"I'm warning you though it will be Ramen…" Naruto joked.

Hinata laughed at that.

"Good night Hina-Chan" Naruto said as he bent down and kissed her cheek.

Hinata went scarlet red at that and whispered "G…Good night Naruto-kun" as she turned and walked towards the Hyuuga entrance.

"_I haven't stuttered in a very long time but he really makes me nervous"_ Hinata thought as she held up her pillow and dug her face into it.

* * *

"Hinata-Sama am sorry but I can't train with you today, my team and I got a mission and I must leave now" Niji said as he bowed to his cousin.

"Don't be silly Niji, that's nothing to be sorry about, and for the love of god call me Hinata please!" Hinata frowned at her stubborn cousin "that's too bad, Aunt Tayo Is coming today so we won't get to train together for a while".

Before Niji could say anything Hinata added "will you be back home for dinner?".

"I believe so it shouldn't take that long" Niji said as he got ready to leave.

"That's great, then you can have dinner with all of us" Hinata smiled at him and added as she started heading back into the house "Be safe Niji, see you later"

"Thank you Hinata" Niji said as he took of for the gate to meet his team.

"Hinata, you're not training with Niji-nii-san today?" asked Hanabi as she passed Hinata on her way out to the dojo.

"I was but he has a mission so I'll just work in the library for today, might as well auntie is coming back today and I will probably need every drop of energy for our training."

Hanabi's sweat dropped at the mention of her aunt.

"How about you? Father is not home yet so who are you going to train with?"

"By my self, but that's not what's important, tell me how did your date go last night?" Hanabi said smirking at her blushing sister and then added "did he kiss you?"

"Hanabi!" Hinata yelled out as an even darker blush formed on her cheeks.

Hanabi laughed out at that "well, did he?".

"No!"

"Oh well, maybe next time" Hanabi smiled at her flustered sister and added "there is a next time, isn't there?".

Hinata bit her lip nervously "yes, he is taking me to lunch today".

"That's nice, well Hinata I got to go train for now, good luck on your research." Hanabi said as she continued her way to the dojo.

"Thanks, you too. Oh don't be late for dinner" Hinata said as she went her way too.

* * *

"_I'll start with some meditating then I need to work on that technic at least until launch with Hinata"_ Naruto thought as he walked through the village heading for the training grounds.

Naruto's mind wondered off to Hinata as he was walking "_I think the date went well, I hope that she thinks the same, at least she looked like she was enjoying herself...she looked really beautiful too." Naruto sighed "how on earth did I end up going out with someone as beautiful as her…I better be carful I definitely maxed out my luck on that one"._

Naruto mediated and trained until 11:30 when he decided to stop for now and go pick Hinata up at the hospital.

* * *

"You're here early?" Sakura said as she stopped by a patient's room and saw Hinata holding his chart.

"Oh yeah Niji had to train so I was free, thought that I'd start early and take a long lunch instead." Hinata closed the chart and walked out of the room towards the reception station.

"So Hinata, did you have fun last night?" Sakura asked smirking with a glint in her eyes.

"Naruto-kun told me" Hinata lifted an eyebrow at her and added "why didn't you tell me you knew?"

"Me? How about you?! You were going on a date with your long time crush and you did not tell me!" Sakura shook her head at her friend.

Hinata stopped walking "Well first of all I had a crush but I no longer do, now I just like him a normal amount and second of all I didn't say anything because I didn't want to make a big deal out of this."

Sakura smiled widely.

"What?" Hinata asked looking at her friend.

Naruto cleared his throat from behind her.

Hinata turned her head to see who it was and her eyes went wide and her face went completely red "N…Naruto-kun…"

"A normal amount huh?" Naruto said as he lifted an eyebrow at her.

"_This did not just happen" _Hinata thought to herself then she narrowed her eyes at Sakura whose smile just grew wider and turned to Naruto.

"Ummm…the ramen stand right?" Hinata who was still blushing asked but walked towards the hospital exit anyway.

"See you later Sakura" Naruto said as he waved and followed Hinata.

When they were out of the hospital Naruto took her hand in his "So you like me huh? Even though you said a normal amount I'll take that as a good thing" Naruto looked at her and smirked.

"You weren't supposed to hear that…" Hinata mumbled as she pouted.

"No no that works out great because I really really like you…" Naruto squeezed her hand as he smiled at her.

Hinata looked at him and blushed at his words.

"How ever am not entirely happy that you no longer have a crush on me" Naruto smiled.

"Your never letting that go, aren't you?"

"Not a chance" Naruto said as he winked at her and then he added "So how long do I get to entertain the beautiful lady?"

"Well I started my shift early today so I have about an hour and a half for lunch"

"Lucky me" Naruto said as he smiled at her.

"So Naruto-kun how was your day?"

"Nothing interesting I just trained and worked on a new Jutsu a little, how about you anything interesting?"

"No not really I was supposed to train with Niji this morning but he had a mission, so I worked on some research."

They got to the Ramen stand and Naruto requested their orders to go.

"We are not eating here?" Hinata asked.

"No, I thought it would be nice if we went to the lake since you have a long lunch break"

"Okay" Hinata smiled.

"Your aunt is coming today right?" Naruto asked as they were waiting for their orders.

"Yes, this afternoon".

"Will I still be able to see you?"

"Yes but I was wondering if we can change our training time to the mornings because after my hospital shift I'll be pretty much training with Auntie until 9 at night"

"Yeah that's not a problem, but isn't that a bit much?" Naruto asked a little worried.

They got their ramen orders and headed for the lake.

"Yeah actually when I meet you in the morning I will probably just bring some books from the library to research while you train and I'll supervise your clones, that way I'll still have my energy for whatever Auntie decides to torture me with".

Naruto laughed at that and they silently walked towards the lake hand in hand.

"_I can't believe she had a crush on me in the Academy, god am such an idiot how didn't I notice!, but it sure feels nice to know that someone cared even back then…"_ Naruto thought as he slightly smiled to himself _"she says she no longer has a crush on me but then again she said she likes me now so that's still good enough for me, I just hope I don't screw this up for my self"_ Naruto looked from the corner of his eyes at Hinata _"She is so beautiful, I think its those infinite eyes…or maybe the rosy lips...I really wanna kiss her but am afraid she will slap me or something and I don't want to upset her"_ Naruto sighed.

When they got to the lake they sat at a bench that was shaded under a tree and they sat their food in between them as Hinata broke apart her chopsticks she said "Next time I get to choose what we eat."

Naruto laughed and took a bite off his Ramen "if you say so…".

Hinata smiled as she started eating her ramen too, they talked while they ate and when they were done Naruto picked up the empty bowls and threw them in a nearby trash can, on his way back to the bench he picked up a leaf and sat next to Hinata but closer to her this time.

"Hina-Chan look" Naruto opened his palm and the leaf floated above much like it did on Hinata's palm.

"Naruto-Kun! You did it!" Hinata yelled from next to him and he scratched the back of his head with his other hand and Hinata added "Hmm now we need to move along with the training, tomorrow we will start with the next technique".

"That's great, Thanks for the help Hina-Chan I know you have enough on your plate as it is…"

"Don't mention it".

They sat there in silence as they stared at the ducks swimming in the water; Naruto spread his arm on the back of the bench behind Hinata.

Hinata felt even closer to him that his arm now practically wrapped around her shoulder and it was making her feel nervous.

Naruto turned his head and upper-body towards Hinata "Hina-Chan…" he whispered as his hand started playing with the end of her hair.

Hinata blushed and said "Yes?"

"I…I have a little confession…" Naruto said nervously as he twirled a strand of her hair around his finger.

Hinata turned her head to face him and blushed even more when her eyes met his, she was surprised to see that he too was blushing a little "Y…you do?" Hinata was now even more aware of his proximity.

"Yes" was all Naruto said as he leaned in slowly his eyes left her eyes for a second to glace at her lips then back to her eyes, he noticed the heavier blush now dusting her cheeks.

"W…what is…" Hinata started saying but stopped as his face got closer to hers and she felt her heart hammering in her chest and her stomach swirled with butterflies, she gulped as his lips were mere centimeters away from hers and she closed her eyes as his lips slightly brushed against hers once then twice before pressing against hers gently. Naruto felt electricity go through him as his lips touched hers and he was amazed at the softness of her lips, they stayed like that for a moment before Naruto pulled back slightly and Hinata fluttered her eyes open and blushed a dark shade of red as she stared into his blue eyes.

"I was just saying that…I really wanted to do that ever since I walked you home last night"

Hinata bit her lower lip as she continued to look into his eyes; he was still close enough that when he spoke she could feel his warm breath on her face and it made her breathing increase.

"Hina-Chan…can…can I Kiss you again?" Naruto added while blushing.

Hinata averted her eyes from his and gave a slight nod; Naruto smiled at that as he closed the gap between them.

* * *

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, followed or Favorited my story i really appreciate the support 3.

Please Review ^_^


	9. Desserts

******Disclaimer~ I do not own the rights to Naruto.**

******I just wanna say thank you to the guest review on the last chapter it gave a much needed push to write, I'm sorry I couldn't update any sooner though. ^_^**

* * *

**Chapter-9**

**Desserts**

"You are late" Sakura stated as Hinata walked towards her.

"Yeah sorry I lost track of time" Hinata blushed at the memory of the reason why she was late.

"Hinata am glad I caught you before I left" Tsunade said as she walked out of a patient's room and walked towards the girl.

"Hokage-Sama" Hinata nodded her head at the woman.

"Did you finish the Research I gave you?" asked Tsunade as she signed a paper that was handed to her by a nurse.

"Almost done there were substantially less material than I had hoped on the subject" Hinata stated.

"Well if someone could do it would be you, however am afraid that I have something else I want you to research" Tsunade smiled apologetically at Hinata knowing she already was pushing herself "Am sorry to spring this on you I know you already busy specially with Tayo coming back am sure she will occupy you".

"Not at all Hokage-Sama, am glad to help".

"Thank you, oh and Hinata tell your aunt to come visit at the office sometime, it's been a while since I saw her…maybe bring a bottle of Sake too?" Tsunade said to Hinata as they walked to the nurse's station along with Sakura.

Hinata's sweat dropped "Sure…".

"Oh Sakura the patients in rooms 223 and 125 need to be checked on regular passes for signs of internal bleeding" Tsunade signed one more paper and added "Oki girls you take care" Tsunade said to Hinata and Sakura as she walked out of the hospital.

Sakura turned to Hinata "so how was your date after that little outburst" Sakura smiled as she picked up two charts and started towards the patient's rooms.

"Well no thanks to you, but it was great" Hinata blushed.

"Really? I mean we are talking about Naruto…" Sakura said and then added "you do remember how dense he is don't you?".

Hinata frowned at her friend "He is not! At least not with me…"

* * *

"Welcome back Tayo-Sama" one of the guards at the Hyuuga compound said as he bowed.

"Thank you" Tayo nodded her head as she walked towards the main house and another guard opened the door for her when she reached it, once inside she asked one of the servants if Hinata or Hanabi were home.

"Welcome back Tayo-Sama, Hinata-Sama will be home from the hospital soon and Hanabi-Sama is training in the dojo…shall I notify her of your arrival?"

"Thank you but that won't be necessary, I'll go to the dojo" and she started to walk but then stopped and added "and Hiashi?"

"Hiashi-Sama is in a meeting with the elders"

Tayo nodded and headed for the dojo.

"Welcome back Auntie" said Hanabi as soon as her aunt was at the door.

"Hanabi-Chan I missed you, now come and give me a hug"

Hanabi stopped her training and went to greet her aunt.

"Your not gonna say you miss me?" Tayo asked teasing the little girl knowing that she wasn't comfortable declaring her feelings, _"can't really blame her being raised as a Hyuuga would do that to you even Hinata who is very kind and gentle has issues with sharing feelings…still Hinata is better at that than Hanabi…" _Tayo thought as she ruffled the young girl's hair.

Hanabi just frowned at that and Tayo smiled.

"Alright I'll tell you what how about you show me how strong you've gotten, care for a spar?"

"Sure Auntie" Hanabi smiled at her aunt.

"Oki how about we make it a little interesting?" Tayo smiled wickedly

"Why do I feel like this is a trap?..."Hanabi said hesitatingly as she folded her arms over her chest.

"Oh come on now, can't an aunt have an innocent bet going with her beloved niece" when Tayo saw that her niece wasn't biting she added "if you can land a Juuken hit on me…I'll give you a summoning contract now instead of when you become Chunin"

Hanabi's eyes widened and she dropped her arms "A…Are you serious?!"

Tayo smiled "Aha…"

"What do you want in return?"

"Well nothing right now…maybe later I'll think of something besides Hinata is going to be here soon and I need a warm up since we need to start training the moment she is here" Tayo lifted her hand in front of her and looked at her nails.

"I don't think so…" Hanabi said knowing that if she agreed to that she would pay for it later and angry with her aunt for saying that sparring with her would be a mere warm up.

"No confidence in your abilities? Where is the pride of the Hyuuga?..." Tayo said trying to provoke Hanabi.

Hanabi frowned at her aunt and was about to reply when her aunt continued "just as well, your probably won't be able to summon anything yet, even if you do have the summoning contract…" Tayo said while pretending to walk away and thought _"yeah that will do…"_

"Fine, lets do this…"

"Yey, alright then you've got till Hinata comes home" Tayo announced

Hanabi tried everything she got but she was already tired from training all day and her aunt wasn't exactly easy to hit, she kept dodging and blocking her hits, what infuriated her that her aunt didn't even hit back.

"_Damn, Hinata is here"_ Hanabi frowned as she saw her sister coming through the entrance with her Byakugan then smiled _"Maybe I can use that"_

"Welcome home Auntie" Hinata said from the doorway to the dojo.

Tayo turned to her other niece and smiled at her "Your late Hinata…"

"_Now" _Hanabi thought as she went to attack her distracted aunt.

"Uh Uh" Tayo waved her finger at Hanabi and said "Time is up love, maybe next time" she winked and added "I'll think about that favor", Tayo started walking towards Hinata and then stopped and turned back to Hanabi who was pouting "I really missed you kid…" and she kept walking, Hanabi's expression softened at her words and then she smiled.

Hinata hugged her aunt "I missed you auntie".

Tayo let her go "I miss you too, but don't think I'll go soft on you today…"

Hinata smiled "Never crossed my mind".

"Hey Hanabi, how is the training" Hinata smiled at her sister.

"Its good how was your shift? Did you go to lunch wit…" she wasn't able to finish her sentence because Hinata interrupted her "yeah yeah it was fine" then she turned hurriedly at her aunt "aren't we late, we should get going".

Tayo lifted an eyebrow at her suspiciously "Okay". _"Hmm what are you hiding Hinata-chan…oh well I still have that little favor from Hanabi…"._

* * *

Naruto was finally done with his training and he was heading home to take a shower, it was already pretty late_…"God I miss Hina-Chan, maybe I can drop by and say hi…tsk I just saw her a few hours ago, what's happening to me…well I know that kiss happened to me"_ Naruto sighed as he remembered kissing Hinata, after the second kiss there was a third, a fourth and a fifth, hell even Hinata kissed him back on the third one, he must be doing something right then, but he felt guilty for making her late for her shift_…"oh well Tsunade and Sakura will get over it" _he thought as he opened the door to his apartment.

After Hinata finished dinner with her family she went to her room, laid on her bed and twirled a strand of hair around her finger and she remembered how nervous it made her when Naruto did it and how flustered she was by what he did next _"I can't believe that happened…and I can't believe I kissed him…" _Hinata thought as she touched her lip then she got up and walked to the her dresser and was about to reach for something when she heard a faint tab on her window, she did not turn around and just activated her Byakugan and saw that it was Naruto so she put back the Kunai she grabbed from the dresser _"What is he doing here! If father sees him…."_ Hinata thought as she went to open the Window.

"Hey Hina-…" Naruto started when she opened the window.

"What are you doing here?!" Hinata whispered at him

"Well I missed you too Hina-Chan…" Naruto said sarcastically

"Naruto! Am serious, if the guards or father see you, we are going to be in trouble…"

"Come on live a little, am just visiting my girlfriend and I brought dessert" Naruto smirked as he held up a bag.

"_Did he just say girlfriend" _Hinata thought and then she looked at the bag and then back at Naruto and finally said "fine but only because you have dessert, I'll go tell Hanabi that am taking a walk and I'll meet you outside…Don't let anyone see you"

"Okay" Naruto grinned then leaned in kissed her cheek and left.

Hinata smiled at that and then went to Hanabi's room and knocked at the door.

"Come in"

"Hanabi…I'm going to go take a walk…but I don't want father to worry so can you cover for me?"

Hanabi lifted an eyebrow at her "Your going to see Naruto aren't you?"

Then Hinata did something she didn't do in a long time she pressed her two index fingers together and looked at her sister, blushed and nodded.

Hanabi laughed at her sister.

Hinata bit her lip then confessed "he came up to my window and asked me if I can take a walk…and he brought dessert"

"He passed the guards without being detected, father would be impressed…not about him sneaking into your room though, he would kill him for that" Hanabi smiled at her sister.

Hinata rolled her eyes.

"Fine I'll cover for you, don't be late though I don't want to lie to father…"

"Thanks Hanabi…" Hinata smiled at her sister and left the house from the window of her room. _"Hanabi's right father will not like this…"_ Hinata thought as she reached Naruto.

"What took you so long?" Naruto said smiling when she was next to him.

"Well excuse me but I was sneaking out of a house filled with people who can see through walls…" Hinata said joking.

"I know…I sneaked in and out remember" Naruto said as he winked at her then he added "you have a nice room…you know its rude not to invite people in…".

Hinata blushed at the hidden meaning of his words "it's also said to be rude to come in through windows…"

Naruto laughed and then smiled gently at her " I missed you" he looked into her eyes and got closer to her.

Hinata's cheeks heated under his gaze "I missed you too" she said as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and then he leaned and pressed his lips against hers, Hinata kissed him back as she put her hands on his by the side of her face, Naruto pulled back and added "and I missed that…" Hinata blushed.

"Hina lets eat the ice-cream before it melts" he smiled as they started to walk and then added "Chocolate or Vanilla?"

"Umm…Chocolate" Hinata said.

"There you go"

They walked as they ate the ice cream and talked about their day then Hinata started "Naruto-kun…"

"Hmm"

"Back then… at my window you referred to me as your… your girlfriend" Hinata said shyly.

"Oh am sorry Hina I didn't mean to make assumptions…" Naruto said disappointed thinking that she didn't want to be his girlfriend "I just thought that…"

Hinata seeing that she stopped walking and put her hand on his arm "No Naruto it's not like that…its just we didn't talk about it before and I wanted to know if you meant it…"

Naruto smiled "Yes I really did" then he added "Hina will you be my girlfriend?"

Hinata smiled and kissed him on the cheek "yes".

"So, are you ready for tomorrow? There will be no more sitting around the next technic uses a lot of chakra too…"

Naruto smiled "Bring it"

"Naruto am sorry but I must head back, I promised Hanabi that I won't to be late and I don't want father to know…"

"Alright let's head back" Naruto said holding her hand.

"Naruto You don't have to do that…I can walk back on my own"

Naruto smiled at her dropping the honorific too "I want to Hina…"

"You know we should do this more often…" Naruto said.

"Umm, but if you get caught sneaking to my window, father will…he will…let's just say your not going to like it".

Naruto dragged her to a shadowed ally, Hinata had her back to the wall as Naruto leaned in trapping her between him and the wall and she bit her lip "But Hina if I get to see you, be with you and kiss you" he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers slightly "it is absolutely worth it…"

Hinata blushed as she brought her free hand to his face and this time she was the one to kiss him, Naruto smiled into the kiss and he got even closer to her, Hinata pulled away slowly _"His kisses are addictive…"_ Hinata thought as she glanced back and fourth between his eyes and lips then she licked her lips wetting them, Naruto stared intently at what she was doing and he was surprised by how much he was excited by something as little as that. Naruto pressed her hand that was intertwined with his against the wall next to her head and leaned in and passionately kissed her, then his other hand went to the back of her neck as he deepened the kiss, Naruto licked her lower lip asking for her permission, that sent a shiver through her and she felt her face getting heated, she opened her mouth slightly and his tongue explored her mouth, it burned her from the inside out, she felt her heart race and her stomach turn. She grasped his jacket feeling a little light headed, then Naruto did something that drove her crazy, he slid his tongue flat across hers and she fisted his jacket in her hand and started to kiss him back.

They pulled back after a moment out breath and panting both of them flushed. Naruto lowered his forehead on hers as he took her other hand in his.

* * *

"Hinata today when you come back from the hospital we need to work on stealth skills and on some jutsues that I still think have a room for improvements…" Tayo stared at her niece from across the breakfast table "Hinata are you listening to me?".

Hanabi chuckled knowingly from her seat while eating her food, Tayo glanced at Hanabi then back at Hinata who was holding her chopsticks and dazed off completely. Tayo took an apple from the bowl next to her and threw it at Hinata, Hinata managed to snap out of it as her Ninja instincts took over and she dodged it in the last second "Auntie!" Hinata yelled out at her attacker.

"Well I was talking to you for a while now and you were dazed off, what's gotten into you?"

Hinata blushed and Tayo narrowed her eyes at that _"Hinata hasn't blushed like that in a while…"_

"Sorry" she smiled at her Aunt apologetically and then glanced at the clock on the wall and added "I have to leave, see you at the training grounds Auntie?"

"Yes" Tayo said while still looking intently at Hinata trying to figure out what she is hiding.

Hinata nodded "See you later Hanabi"

"See you Hinata".

When Hinata left, Hanabi as well got up to go train but her aunt stopped her "Not so fast love, I decided what I want" and she smiled sweetly at Hanabi.

* * *

Naruto woke up late today and hurriedly got ready; he didn't want to be late for Hinata but when he got there Hinata was already sitting under one of the trees with a pile of books and scrolls next to her.

When Hinata saw him she got up and smiled at him "Morning Naruto"

"Morning Hina" he grinned at her as he kissed her cheek.

"So shall we start?" Hinata asked and Naruto nodded at her.

"Oki with this technique you need to push the chakra outside your body and then transform it into senbons, the reason why this might be difficult specially for you is because you have a lot of chakra and it would take extra effort to wield it into thin needles" then Hinata pushed some Chakra out of her body and then threw the transformed senbons into the tree trunk forming a straight line.

"Okay looks simple enough" Naruto said smugly

Hinata just smirked at that.

"I'll be working on some research while you train" she said while walking back to the tree.

Naruto made fifty clones and started.

* * *

It has been an hour and a half since he started and all that he could make would be described as a large stick at best.

"Hina this is impossible" Naruto whined to Hinata who lifted her head from her books and said "It just takes some time, I told you, you have a big amount of Chakra" Hinata got up and walked towards him "am sure you will get it".

Naruto pouted and crossed his arms over his chest "How did you get to be so good at it?"

Hinata smiled "well to be able to use my family's taijutsu style effectively one must have high Chakra control so I trained at a very young age, but I think your doing good"

"Really?" Naruto asked

"Absolutely"

Naruto grinned at that then his face fell and he asked "Do you need to leave soon?"

"Actually I need to leave now or I'll be late, also am sorry but I don't think I can make it tomorrow I have a lot of research to catch up to, okay?" Hinata smiled apologetically

"Only if you go out for dinner with me tomorrow"

"Perfect, but can we go at 9?"

"Sure no problem" Naruto smiled.

"Okay now I really got to go"

Hinata went to the tree she was sitting by and put her books and most of the scrolls into her bag and she picked one of the scrolls in her hand and was about to pick her bag when Naruto said from behind her "What I don't get a kiss before you leave?"

Hinata blushed and got on her tiptoes and kissed him gently, when she pulled back slightly Naruto took a step forward and pushed her gently against the tree behind her, he looked into her eyes, when Hinata saw that he was leaning in and his body got closer to her she gulped and stammered out "N…Naruto I'll be…" Naruto brushed his lips to hers slightly and pulled back enough to look into her eyes and Hinata continued while being lost in his eyes "Late…".

"So be late…" Naruto whispered against her lips.

Hinata was about to say something but Naruto sealed his lips to hers and she just closed her eyes and kissed him back, and when Naruto felt her relax a little he licked her lower lip and she felt she was on fire, she dropped the scroll from her hand and wrapped her arms around his neck pulling him closer and she parted her lips.

"Oh to be young and in love…" a voice came from a tree nearby, the two jumped apart and looked at the source.

"Auntie!..." Hinata whispered out as her blushing face went completely red, she bit her lip then added "how…how did you…"

Tayo waved her off as she dropped from the tree "let's just say Hanabi owed me…" and then glanced at Naruto and added "Aren't you going to introduce me to your boy toy…"

Hinata would have blushed if she wasn't already blushing from being caught kissing Naruto "Auntie please…."

"Fine fine I'll behave" she looked at Naruto who was blushing as well "I'm Tayo, Hinata's aunt"

Naruto bowed to her and said "Uzumaki Naruto, nice to meet you".

Hinata was surprised by how polite Naruto was.

Tayo looked at Hinata "how long did you plan to hide this from me?"

"I wasn't hiding it, you just came back yesterday…"

"Aha…so you weren't afraid that I'd say…embarrass you or anything like that?" Tayo smiled wickedly.

Hinata gulped knowing her aunt's teasing nature and that's exactly why she didn't tell her.

"You know Hinata if you have time to make-out with your boyfriend maybe we need to up your training…"

Hinata blushed and declared "Alright we are leaving!" Hinata said as she grabbed her aunt's arm and dragged her with her.

Tayo laughed and said out loud as she was being dragged "I've got to say Hinata you know how to pick them…" Hinata blushed an even darker shade of red.

"See you later Hina" Naruto waved awkwardly.

* * *

Please Review PLEASE! ^_^


	10. Interruptions

**Disclaimer~ I Don't Own the Rights to Naruto.**

* * *

I'm really sorry for the long delay, i've been really really busy these last week and to be honest I was also figuring out where I want this story to go and how to get there. I guess I just needed a little motivation. I will try my best to update sooner ^_^. Hope you like this chapter...

* * *

**Chapter - 10**

**Interruptions**

Hinata walked up the steps to Naruto's apartment and knocked softly on the door, a moment later Naruto opened the door and greeted her, when she walked in he leaned in to kiss her cheek but she narrowed her eyes at him and pulled back a little and looked at him intently " a clone?" Hinata asked feeling there was something off about the Naruto before her.

Naruto smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head as he stepped back from her giving her space.

Hinata smiled at the clone amused by the way Naruto's clones acted around her.

The clone started "Boss said to tell you that he is sorry but he is taking a quick shower and he will be right out and meanwhile you can give me a list of anything you might need for dinner and I'll go get it for you."

"Oh okay, let me check what he has and I'll tell you if I need anything" she walked to the kitchen looking through the fridge to see what he had. She knew her way around his house by now after all they have dated for three months, she made a list of missing stuff and gave the piece of paper to the clone.

She smiled at the clone "Thank you"

"No problem Hina" clone said as he left to get the groceries.

Hinata went to sit on the couch, but the moment she sat she heard a door open from the small hallway behind her, when she turned to look at her boyfriend a deep blush dusted he cheeks.

"Hey Hina, sorry I made you wait its just I guess I lost track of time while training and when I got home I was too dirty so I took a shower".

Hinata knew he was talking but she wasn't really listening, she was staring at her boyfriend who was only in a towel that he had wrapped around his waist, she knew she shouldn't be staring but she couldn't look away from his well toned muscles and his tanned chest, she felt her breathing get shallower.

Naruto smirked at the way she was looking at him, he really liked the look she was giving him but then he broke her trance "You like what you see?"

Hinata's face went red as she jumped from the couch and headed for the kitchen "I'm going to make tea, do you want some? Because am going to make tea" Hinata stammered nervously.

"No thanks, I'll go get dressed and come right back".

She just nodded as she went about the kitchen to make her tea.

A moment later Naruto was by the kitchen's door and Hinata was by the stove with her back to him, waiting for the hot water.

"I haven't seen you for three days…I missed you Hina" Naruto said as he walked towards her, wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her cheek. Then he whispered in her ear "Didn't you miss me too?"

Hinata felt a shiver go down her spine when she felt his breath on her ear and her breathing got heavier "of course I missed you...more than I can tell you"

Naruto smiled and kissed her cheek again then a little further down to her jaw and he hugged her closer, Hinata bit her lip as she felt his lips on her neck and she gripped the counter next to her.

She turned in his arms and they looked into each other's eyes for a moment before, they started kissing passionately, Hinata forgot about her tea as they moved out of the kitchen and into the couch still kissing, he gently laid her down as he laid down on top of her.

Naruto pulled away from her lips and started kissing down her jaw and along her neck, he glanced up to her eyes and then he went back to her neck and sucked on a her pulse point, Hinata's eyes widened in embarrassment as a muffled moan slipped from her lips and Naruto smirked against her neck and sucked on that little spot again making Hinata bite her lip hard not wanting another embarrassing sound to slip out much to Naruto's displeasure, Hinata threaded her fingers in Naruto's hair and pulled him to meet her lips again in a searing kiss.

Naruto's hand moved between them trying to find the zipper to her jacket, when he finally found it and started pulling down slightly when the front door opened and Hinata sat up from under Naruto too quick and Naruto fell of the couch.

"Ouch…" Naruto whined while lying on the ground.

Hinata jumped up from the couch to Naruto's side "I…I'm really sorry Naruto…I was just startled by your clone I didn't mean to…"

Naruto just got up and dispelled his most annoying clone yet.

Hinata bit her lip, walked towards him and pulled at the hem of his shirt; she looked at him from under her eyelashes.

Naruto lifted an eyebrow at her _"Damn, she is too sexy…"_

"A…are you mad at me?..." she said trying to lead them back into the mood.

Naruto smirked at her and leaned forward and kissed her right cheek then the left one and he kissed his way down to her lips, when he got close enough to feel her shallow breath on his own lips there was a knock at the door and he closed his eyes tightly with annoyance while Hinata just dropped her head against his chest and sighed "I'll start dinner…"

"I'm going to kill who ever is at the door!" Naruto said as he stormed towards the door and he flung it open "What is it?!"

"Well hello to you to Naruto"

"Ero-Sannien…your back!"

"And to think you're the first person I see after being away for so long and this is the way you gre…"

"Naruto, who is it?" Hinata said as she walked to Naruto's side.

Jiraya lifted and eyebrow at Naruto "oh my my, I can't believe it my beloved student has a girl over at this late hour…so you do listen to me after all…wait does mean your not a virg…"

"Shut up Ero-Sannien!" Naruto yelled at him while Hinata blushed scarlet red next to him.

"Huh I guess not after all" then he added "well are you going to invite me in?"

He didn't wait for the answer and just stepped inside.

Hinata bowed "It's an honor to meet you Jiraya-Sama"

"Now Tell me, how does a girl as polite as you and most importantly as beautiful ends up with…that?" Jiraya said as he pointed at Naruto.

"Hey!"

Hinata blushed and smiled at her frowning boyfriend.

Jiraya wrapped his arm around Hinata's shoulder "How about you dumb this one over here and let me show you what it's like to be with a real man?" Hinata blushed at that and smiled awkwardly at him.

"Listen up you perv there will be non of that behavior around Hina, you understand? and there will definitely be no touching her, or Tsunade-obaa-Chan will find about all the research spots you went to while training me…" Naruto said as he pulled Hinata towards him.

Jiraya froze, gulped and then he adjusted his coat "It's a pleasure to meet you Hyuuga-san"

"That's more like it".

"Okay kids I should go report to Tsunade before she…well you know" he said as he turned towards the door and added "Have fun" he looked back at Naruto and winked at him before leaving.

Naruto turned to Hinata who was already was on her way back to the kitchen and followed her "So do you believe me now? I told you he is a perv".

A faint blush dusted Hinata's cheeks "Yes, I can see that…what research did you mean?"

"Ummm well he actually writes a series of adult books…the same as Kakashi-Sensei reads…".

Hinata's blush intensified "Ummm…you…you don't read them do you?"

Naruto blushed at that "n…no they are too boring and I'm not much of a reader anyway…"

"sorry I didn't mean…"

"Nah it's okay, I guess it's a valid assumption, both of my teachers are perverts so…" Naruto smiled at her and then added with a smirk "Don't worry any perviness I have is saved purely for you" Naruto winked at her.

"Is that right?" Hinata said in a flirty tone while blushing.

"It's all your fault really…" Naruto stated as a mater of fact as he went to her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Aha I'm sure it is…"

"Well if you come here looking like this" he looked deep into her eyes "those eyes…" he brushed his thumb slightly over her lower lip and then kissed her gently "those lips…" he sighed "there is only so much that a guy can handle you know"

Hinata blushed as she was completely lost in his gaze "you know your not so bad yourself…"

"I know I saw you looking earlier" Naruto smirked and wiggled his eyebrows at her.

Hinata rolled her eyes at him and slipped out of his embrace and started cooking dinner.

"Tsunade, I didn't take you for the type that worked late hours…" Jiraya said leaning at the doorframe of Tsunad's office.

"Jiraya! Your back and who says am working?" Tsunade said drunk as she held up her sake bottle and snickered then added "Shhh don't tell Shizuni…she is no fun".

Jiraya stared at her amused "You know it's been a while since I have been in the presence of a drunk Tsunade, I forgot how fun she is"

"Are you saying am usually not fun Jiraya?" Tsunade lifted a threatening eyebrow at him.

"And also how scary…" Jiraya mumbled more to himself.

His expression changed into a serious one "Tsunade you need to sober up, I have intel that needs your full attention…can you do that jutsu that you do?"

Tsunade was aware enough to see that this was very serious, she started on her jutsu and fifteen minutes later she was back to her usual self.

"What is it Jiraya?"

"I found Orochimaru's hideout, he kept changing where he stayed periodically and just moved into a new location at the borders of sound and Rain I have the exact coordinates, but you know Orochimaru he has ears everywhere so we should do this quick and…"

"Yes?"

"I think you should send Naruto with the team you assign this mission…"

"That would be too dangerous…the Akatsuki are still hunting down every Jinchuuriki they can get their hands on…if he is out of the village it would be very hard to protect him…"

"While that is true, he is much stronger now and you can always send Kakashi and Yamato with him. Tsunade the kid can bring that Uchiha brat back in fact he is the only one that can bring him back to his senses before it's too late"

There was silence in the room for a moment "you really think he can handle it?"

"I'm positive" was all Jiraya said

"I'll assemble a team as fast as possible, they will move out by the early morning"

"Sounds like a plan, seems like you don't need me here anymore so I'll be on way tomorrow as well"

"You're leaving the village so soon?"

"Well there is a lot of Intel that needs collecting and I won't be gone for long this time a week and half maximum…why are you going to miss me?"

"Nah…I need to know whither to assign extra security to the hot springs around the village"

"As if they could stop me" Jiraya said as he smirked.

"Just come back in one piece"

Jiraya smiled at her own way of showing affection "will do" he winked at her and left her office.

Tsunade sat back in her chair and started thinking of a plan on how to handle this opportunity.

"Naruto you Moran wake up!" Sakura yelled as she banged on his door for the sixth time and no answer "I swear I'll break down this door if you don't wake up this instance"

When Sakura was about to punch the door down Naruto flung the door open "WHAT?!"

"We have a mission, Tsunade-Sensei needs us in her office in 10 minutes"

Sakura looked at him and then added "and for the love of god who answers the door in only his boxers…"

"Someone who was trying to stop a bulldozer from breaking down his door maybe?"

"That bulldozer can break down human bones too you know…" Sakura lifted an eyebrow at him then added "get dressed, I'll see you at the Hokage's office"

Naruto got ready and ran to the Hokage's office excited, he has been waiting for a serious mission ever since he came back but all he got was C Rank or B at best but this one sounded serious.

When he got to Tsunad's office he saw that not only Sakura was there but also Kakashi and another Shinobi as well.

"Well Naruto since you're here, we should start" she did a quick sound sealing Jutsu and added "this information is confidential you may not give details of this mission to anyone, Understood?" when she saw they all nodded their head she continued "Jiraya was able to locate Orochimaru's hideout and we believe that Uchiha Sasuke is with him" Tsunade looked at Naruto and Sakura and saw their bodies tense up "you four are to reach the hideout and extract Sasuke, with minimum confrontation and at all costs you must avoid being up against Orochimaru, if my presumption is right his body should be much weaker at this stage but he is still not the priority in this mission" silence fell in the room as each of them contemplated the information they were given

"Kakashi you will be captain on this one, Yamato your primary roll is to suppress the Kyubi's Chakra if things got out of hand" he gave her a sharp node.

"Obaa…Obaa-chan…" Naruto stared at her shocked that she would mention the Kyubi with Sakura in the room.

Sakura held his hand and squeezed it "I already know Naruto…" she smiled at him "This changes nothing, we are teammates…I trust you with my life"

"Sakura…" he looked at her and was filled with an overwhelming feeling at being accepted like that, it was a feeling that he didn't feel a lot and he was still getting used to it, he gulped "Thank you".

"I already gave Kakashi the Coordinates, you should also know that I have sent 2 ANBU teams as a decoy but the moment you feel you have put some distance between you and the hideout you must alert the ANBU to retreat, god knows if they can hold up for that long to begin with so as I said before, no distractions just get Uchiha Sasuke, your authorized to use any force that is needed just get him alive, he holds information that will aid the village both against Orochimaru and the Akatsuki" Tsunade stopped to look at Naruto and Sakura and her tone softened slightly "I understand that you two must have mixed emotions about this but you need to understand that there are other people involved in this mission, you need to stay calm and think about your actions and above all follow orders."

"We will" Sakura said with a determined look in her eyes.

"Good, now you need to leave the village at 5 AM so I suggest that you go pack what is needed"

"Yes Hokage-Sama" Yamato said as he headed for the door and was followed by the others.

Naruto walked back to his apartment _"The day is finally here, I will bring you back Sasuke, eve if it is the last thing I do"_

Naruto finally reached his apartment and once he was inside he looked around and thought _"It's too quite without Hina, I was so used to being alone and living alone I never thought that there was something else out there, when she is here everything is better…when did I get so attached to her?"_ he sighed and sat on his couch _"I Can't imagine my life without her…"_ he got up quickly again _"I need to see her before I leave"_ he made a clone and instructed it to pack for the mission and he left his apartment.

Hinata couldn't sleep all night so she finally quit trying and started working on the Research, she was almost done with this one. She laid on the bed on her stomach as she took some notes from a book she was reading, she suddenly activated her Byakugan then deactivated it again and went to the window, she opened it and sighed "Naruto, I thought we agreed that your little visits are too dangerous?"

"Your not happy to see me?" Naruto asked with fake hurt tone.

"You know that's not what I meant, nothing makes me happier"

"Prove it…" Naruto smirked and lifted an eyebrow at her.

Hinata bit her lip as she looked at him and seemed like she was contemplating something, then she did a few hand seals and pulled Naruto into her room, she got closer to him and weaved her hands into his hair and pulled him down into a passionate kiss, she pulled away after a moment and looked into his eyes and smirked when she saw him gulp "see?..."

He smiled at that and sighed "I'm going to miss you…so much"

Hinata gave him a questioning look.

"I have a mission and I have to leave in an hour" Naruto said as he rested his forehead against hers.

"Oh…" Hinata said disappointed that he was leaving "how long are you going to be away?"

"I'm not entirely sure…maybe a week or so" Naruto said looking into her eyes _"should I tell her now?"_

Hinata lowered her gaze "That will be the longest time we have spent apart…I…I don't like that…"

Naruto raised her chin with his finger so that she would look into his eyes "I don't like that either, I wish I could spend every living moment with you…I will miss you Hina…"

Hinata hugged him "I will miss you too Naruto"

A moment passed before they pulled back "I really got to go or I will be late"

"Alright…" Hinata looked at him as he climbed out of her window "be safe"

"I will" he said from outside her window and he leaned in and kissed her.

They both stared into each other's eyes not wanting to say goodbye yet as the trees rustled with the night breeze, Naruto leaned in for another kiss and then whispered into Hinata's ears "I love you Hina".

Hinata opened her eyes wide in shock but he was already gone and all was left was the whispers of the trees.

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**I just want to say thank you to everyone who reviewed and a special thanks to TheLoverOfMusic for all the support and reviews, they made me smile so thanks again.**

**Please everyone Review ^_^**


	11. Change of Plans

**Disclaimer~I don't own the rights to Naruto**

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I'm really sorry for the delay and the short chapter, I just started college again so thats taking a bit of my time.

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Chapter 11

Change of Plans

It's been a week since Naruto left for his mission along with Sakura, and ever since Tsunade had asked Hinata to cover longer shifts at the hospital. Hinata just left a patient's room _"how does Sakura do this? 10 hour days at the hospital is just absurd" _Hinata thought as she walked to the nurse station _"She will be back soon and I'll be saved…and Naruto will be back too"_ Hinata blushed and smiled softly as she remembered what he said before he left _"god I miss him…"_

"Hinata–San, Tsunade-Sama requested that u remain in the hospital, there is a team with injured members coming and she is going to need your assistance" said Shizuni with an apologetic look

"What team?" Hinata asked more alert with urgency in her tone "whose injured?"

"I'm...I'm not sure, Tsunade-Sama didn't say anything else.

_"I have a bad feeling about this..."_

When Tsunade arrived there were 6 ANBU members with her. Before Hinata could ask what's going on Yamato came in with Sakura supported against him and behind them came Naruto and Kakashi; other than Sakura they seemed fine, there were burn bruises on Kakashi and Naruto and their clothes were burnt as well but other than that they seemed alright.

"I thought you said you got Sasuke?" Tsunade asked Kakashi.

Kakashi nodded "Naruto…"

Naruto made a few hand seals and pressed his hand on the hospital floor and there were a swirl of smoke and a big toad appeared in the middle of the hospital.

Before Tsunade could say anything, the toad opened his mouth and his long tongue rolled out into the floor then he unwrapped it from around Sasuke's body.

Sasuke's still body lay on the hospital floor with everyone staring at it for a second before Sakura broke the silence "He is alive and stable for now but he still didn't regain conciseness, I…I did all I could but I was already low on Chakra from healing Kakashi-Sensei and Naruto"

"What happened to you?" Tsunade looked at her left side, which seemed to be paralyzed.

The moment Tsunade asked the question the energy in the room changed and she could see the dark look on Naruto's face and the way he averted his eyes.

Sakura didn't want to answer but knew that it was best to say something at least for Naruto's sake "I got hit, but I couldn't heal my self with what little chakra I had left" then she added trying to change the subject "Sasuke passed out while fighting Naruto and Kakashi-Sensei, I think it has something to do with his Sharingan but am not sure yet".

"Alright" Tsunade turned around towards Shizuni "Shizuni, you take care of Sakura and check on Naruto and Kakashi".

"Yes Tsunade-Sama"

"Hinata your with me, I need your eyes" Tsunade added as she signaled for two medical Ninja's to come with a stretcher, when they lifted Sasuke's body into the stretcher the toad gave Naruto a quick nod and disappeared.

Hinata was standing there watching the whole thing; she just looked at Naruto who seemed pained by something, he kept his head down the whole time and didn't even look at her once, she walked towards him.

"Hinata let's go" Tsunade called back as she followed the medical Ninja's carrying the stretcher to an operation room.

She stood close to him but he still didn't look at her or acknowledge her presence.

"_Later…"_ she thought as she turned around and followed Tsunade.

Shizuni walked towards Yamato and Sakura and supported Sakura against her instead; Sakura smiled weakly at her "Thank you".

Shizuni smiled back at her and led her towards a hospital bed when they passed by Naruto, Sakura stopped and looked at him.

"Naruto…" Sakura started softly but didn't really know what to say.

"I'm sorry…I'm so sorry" Naruto whispered as he turned around and walked out of the hospital.

"Wait Naruto…I haven't checked your burns yet" Shizuni called after him but he didn't turn around

"He will come around…his burns are mostly healed for now" Kakashi said as he walked towards one of the chairs in the waiting area and sat down.

Sakura sighed and then was led by Shizuni to one of the empty beds.

"Do you have any mobility on your left side?" Shizuni asked

"A little but not enough for me move my limbs, just enough that I can stand on my leg though"

'How did this happen?" Shizuni asked as her hands glowed with green Chakra to scan Sakura's arm and leg.

"Umm I think I should leave that detail when we report the mission to Tsunade-sensei…" Sakura closed her eyes for a second recalling how she got injured then added "The Chakra points in my arm and leg are completely closed and have been ever since I got hit, there is foreign Chakra in my tenketsu points that is sealing them off"

"Yeah I can sense the Chakra, I'll drain it out and then give you a chakra bill that should increase your chakra and revive those tenketsu points…but that Chakra…it's…"

Sakura nodded and lowered her gaze.

"Hinata can you please check his Chakra points, he is suffering from Chakra deprivation but he should have recovered by now…"

Hinata nodded "Byakugan"

Hinata looked over his tenketsu points and saw that the ones around his eyes were enlarged and were draining his chakra.

"The tenketsu points around the eye specially the ones around the optic nerve are enlarged, those points are draining whatever Chakra his body generates that's why he hadn't recovered"

"Sakura was right it has to do with his Sharingan, I don't know yet why his eyes are draining his chakra but we need to close off those points in order to allow him to recover his chakra and also in order for those points to go back to their normal size"

"Okay, What do you need me to do?" Hinata asked

"Nothing I can take it from here, but I need you to research what could be causing his bloodline to do that…"

"Yes Hokage-Sama" Hinata said and left the operation room.

"_What happened for him to act that way…everyone made it out okay…maybe it's that Sasuke's unconscious?...no its more than that" _Hinata frowned "maybe it's me…maybe he wants to take it back…"

Tsunade sat behind her disk and stared at the four Ninja's before her "So?..."

"When we got to Orochimaru's hideout, the ANBU have distracted the guards enough for us to infiltrate, we found Sasuke but of course he resisted coming with us peacefully, my self and Naruto teamed up against him, the Kyubi's Chakra took control for a minute during the fight but Yamato managed to seal the Chakra back with the help of Sakura…" Kakashi glanced at Naruto "and in the process Sakura got injured when she got a little too close to Naruto…Sasuke took a couple of hits too but not direct ones, when Naruto was in control again he passed out, that left me against Sasuke who as well passed out due to overuse of the Sharingan…"

There was silence in the room for a moment.

"Well you completed the mission successfully and everyone is fine now…" Tsunade finally said stressing the last part for Naruto's benefit put it fell on deaf ears.

"Okay everyone is dismissed, Kakashi I expect a report on this to be on my desk in two days"

"Yes"

"Naruto, I need you to pass by me tomorrow at noon"

Naruto just nodded his head.

Hinata softly knocked on the door, she knew it was late but she had to make sure he was okay specially since Shizuni said he left the hospital before anyone checked his burns.

A moment later Naruto answered the door.

"Hi" Hinata said while she looked at his expression trying to decipher the look he had, when he didn't say anything and just stood there she walked in and closed the door behind her.

"Naruto…What's wrong?...if it's Sasuke he will be fine he just need to regain some of his Chakra back…"

"It's not that" Naruto interrupted her.

"Then what's wrong…you can talk to me."

Naruto walked to the couch and sat down and put his hands over his face.

"Okay…then let me at least check your burns" she moved to lift up the sleeve of his T-shirt to see the burn but he leaned back.

"It's fine…it's not that bad"

"Don't be silly I can heal it"

"I said it's fine" he said sharply as he stood up again.

She looked at him for a second before she stood up too "Alright, clearly there is something bothering you…tell me what happened" she hesitated for a second then added "Is it what you said before you left?...because if it is we ca…"

"I don't think we should see each other anymore" Naruto interrupted.

Hinata was shocked by his words, she didn't say anything for a moment as she stared at him but he didn't look back at her he kept his eyes averted which made his words hurt even more.

"I don't understand…'Hinata said softly.

"I'm sorry…"

Hinata just turned around and walked out of his apartment.

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**Please Review PLEASE! ^_^**

**I'd love to hear any suggestions with regard to the storyline.**


	12. Temper

**Disclaimer~ I Do Not own the Rights to Naruto.**

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**I'm sure this must seem like a broken record by now, but i'm sorry for the delay, collage has been a nightmare and i just started too! I just want to say that I might take longer to post chapters but I absolutely plan on finishing this story.**

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**Chapter-12**

**Temper**

"Hinata! You're using too much chakra" Niji said while trying to block all of Hinata's Palm strikes.

Hinata stopped.

"Not only will you exhaust your chakra reserve…if one of those hit me…" Niji added

"I know I know…I'm sorry I guess I just…"

"Hinata, is everything okay? You seem like your angry about something" Niji said in a softer tone.

"Yeah…yeah I'm fine. Sorry I guess I just lost focus" she readjusted her fighting stance and added "Shall we continue?" with a firm tone.

"You will be late for your shift…it's almost 11"

Hinata looked at the clock on the dojo "Oh…"

"See you tomorrow Hinata" Niji said as he headed for the door.

"See you"

When she got to the hospital, she could hear yelling and a lot of noise from down one of the hallways, she ignored it and was about to start on her usual patient rounds.

"Hinata, your finally here. Come with me, we need to check on Sasuke" Tsunade said as she just left one of the patients rooms, then she looked towards the source of the noise, frowned and added "It has taken a considerable amount of self control and two ANBU members to stop me from breaking that brat's neck…all that noise in my hospital…tsk".

"They started walking down the hallway towards the noisy room.

"Oh Hinata when is your aunt coming back?"

"Today I believe, Hokage-Sama"

"When she does, Please tell her to come visit me…I found something of hers"

Hinata nodded.

When Tsunade opened the door to Sasuke's room she could hear the nurse pleading with Sasuke telling him to quite down because he is disturbing the other patients.

"I'd listen to her if I were you, if Tsunade-Sama learns of this you won't live much longer…"Kakashi said leaning against the wall while reading his book.

"I don't care, she has me tied to a bed!" he glared at the nurse and added "Release me this instant"

"That's just not going to happen and I suggest you listen to the nurse or else…" Tsunade said standing by the door.

Sasuke just glared at her.

"Hinata can you please check on his eyes and whither they're still draining his chakra"

"Alright, but I need to release him from the chakra binders, they disrupt his system and I won't be able to get an accurate read…"

"Alright"

Hinata walked towards Sasuke and she thought "Naruto has finally made his promise come true…I hope you're worth it". She released the binders and activated her Byakugan.

"They are still enlarged but less than before, I'm going to need to close the Chakra points, they have opened again…" Hinata said.

"Go ahead…" Tsunade said.

"Sasuke-san, please stay still for a moment"

"You are not touching me!" Sasuke moved back his head away from her hand.

"I'm helping you" Hinata said in a sharp tone.

"I didn't ask for your help" Sasuke said and then suddenly got up and headed for the door in a flash but two ANBU members appeared at the door.

Before Sasuke could do anything, Hinata was right behind him and she jabbed two fingers into the back of his neck and he fell to the floor.

"I said be still" Hinata said coldly.

"I didn't know she had a temper…" Kakashi whispered to Tsunade.

"Me neither"

Hinata looked at the ANBU members and asked "can you please help me carry him?...he is just paralyzed but he is still aware"

They carried him to the bed and Hinata closed the vein behind his eye.

"Alright Hinata you can go back to work, I think Sakura might need some help with her patients if you are free"

Hinata just walked out of the room and after finishing her usual rounds with little focus, she went to look for Sakura.

She couldn't get Naruto out of her head, the haunted look he had ever since he got back, she knew there was something more to this…there has to be; but if there was one thing she got from being a Hyuuga it was her pride; she is not the type of girl who will run after a guy who pushed her away, she just wished she could understand. She was really angry with Naruto for ending the state of bliss they were in.

"Hey Hinata!" Sakura said putting an end to Hinata's thoughts.

"Hello Sakura, how are you feeling?" Hinata tried her best to keep a smile on her face.

"I have been better, my arm is still a little numb but nothing I can't handle" Sakura hesitated for a second then added "How is Naruto?"

Hinata was silent.

"What's wrong Hinata?" Sakura asked softly when Hinata's smile fell "What happened?"

"We…we broke up"

Sakura just stared at her for a second _"could he have told her about the Kyubi and she didn't want to be involved with him…no that doesn't sound like Hinata"._

"I don't understand" Sakura finally said

"That makes two of us…"

Sakura just gave her a questioning look

"I went to his Apartment yesterday, he was acting weird then he said that we shouldn't see each other anymore"

"That Moran" Sakura said finally understanding why Naruto would do something like that.

"Sakura, what happened on the mission that would make him feel…guilty? Maybe I'm not sure, he hadn't said much" Hinata said hoping that Sakura would give her an explanation.

Sakura averted her eyes "I'm sorry Hinata, I can't discuss the details of the mission with you…"

Hinata knew that confidential information meant confidential so she just nodded her head.

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"What are you still doing here?" Sasuke said without looking at Kakashi.

"Did you actually believe you could escape the hospital?"

Sasuke just frowned at that.

"You know you would have been executed by now, if it wasn't for the fact that you're the last Uchiha and you were lucky enough to have teammates that would stop at nothing to save you from your own darkness"

Sasuke still didn't say anything.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is what ever they offer you, take it Sasuke" Kakashi said as he left Sasuke's room.

Sasuke stared at the ceiling and took a deep breath. Their was the faintest smile on his face; A smile of relief.

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Naruto sat at the couch in his living room, it's been a long time since he felt despaired, he couldn't remember how long he had been sitting here just thinking of how empty his life felt at this moment. His thoughts were disturbed by a knock on the door.

When he opened the door Sakura was sanding there. He looked at her and then he glanced at her injured arm and leg.

"Are you an Idiot?" Sakura asked calmly before she pushed him aside and then looked at him waiting for an answer, Naruto just gave her a questioning look.

"Why on earth would you break up with Hinata?!"

He was about to say something but she continued "do you know how lucky you are to have her?"

"She is better off without me" Naruto said sharply as he went to sit back on the couch.

"No she is not, Naruto you really hurt her; you have to fix this!"

Naruto looked at the floor before finally looking at Sakura and saying in a whisper "Look what I did to you…she isn't safe around me…I can't handle it if I hurt her"

"Naruto, I'm fine! If you want I'll beat you up and we will be even you idiot" when she saw that her attempt at lighting the mood didn't work she added "She is the best thing that happened to you, don't ruin it…"

"She doesn't even know about the Kyubi…if she realized what I am, she will hate me"

"Have faith in her! I didn't hate you; she wouldn't either. I'd bet my life on it"

Naruto seemed to think about her words for a second then he added "It doesn't matter…she already hates me!"

"You can fix this, at the very least explain it to her, she deserves that much"

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It's been three days since Sasuke has been admitted into the hospital; he no longer resisted every check up or disturbed the other patients. However, Tsunade still didn't know what was causing his eyes to drain his chakra, they have managed to stop it but if he were to overuse his Sharingan, he would pass out again.

Sasuke was deep in thought when there was a soft knock on the door and then the door slid open.

"Hello Sasuke-San" Hinata said as she closed the door.

Sasuke remained silent.

"Hokage-Sama asked me to research what could be causing your eyes to drain your chakra, I've looked through the Hyuuga library to see if there was anything on bloodlines that could give us an idea of what's wrong but I couldn't find anything besides the Sharingan works differently than the Byakugan. So I'm going to need you to answer a few questions since we have little to go on here…alright?"

"Sasuke-San?" Hinata asked when he remained silent _"you can't hit a patient…again"_ Hinata thought when Sasuke's silence started to get on her nerves.

"Fine" Sasuke said.

"What's your Sharingan level?"

"Third"

Hinata started taking notes.

"Have this ever happened before?"

"Yes a few times while I was training but nothing this bad"

"Is it just the eye or is there something else you noticed?"

Sasuke was silent for a moment "I get a stabbing pain where my seal is when I overuse my bloodline"

"Seal?"

"The seal Orochimaru placed on me during the last Chunin exam" Sasuke smirked then added "You don't know much about me, now do you?"

"I'm not a fan girl if that's what your asking" Hinata said lifting an eyebrow at him; she could almost swear he smiled at that but then again this was Sasuke so her mind could be playing tricks on her.

"I think I read something about that type of seal in one of Tsunade-Sama's notes, if I remember correctly it interferes with the chakra system" Hinata was silent for a minute thinking of this new information then she continued "Can you please activate you bloodline for a moment, I want to see something"

After Sasuke activated his Sharingan, she activated her Byakugan and just like she had guessed, there was a chakra line between the seal and the veins around the eye, however it wasn't the same as Sasuke's natural Chakra and it didn't seem to cause any damage to the eye _"Maybe he needs to get to his limit before it damages the veins..."_

"Well I think we have something here, I'll update Tsu…" she was interrupted by a knock on the door, and just like that the room went into thick silence.

Naruto looked at Hinata, who returned his gaze for a moment, then she got up "Thank you Sasuke-San that will be all for now" and she just walked out of the room passing right by him without even glancing his way. He felt a tug at his heart, he couldn't believe that a few days ago he held her in his arms, kissed her and told her that he loved her; he would give anything to have that feeling fill his heart again.

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**I just want to Say a Big Big thank you to everyone who reviewed, I Can't tell you how much i appreciate it 3.**

**I do apologies for the spelling mistakes, My english is not that good :s i'll try to be better though.**

**LoverOfMusic miss your reviews /3**

**Please Review please !**


	13. Control

**Disclaimer~I Do Not own the rights to Naruto.**

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**I know this is a short Chapter sorry! but I did post a chapter not to long ago so I hope that makes up for it. ^_^'**

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**Chapter-13**

**Control**

If he wasn't so used to it the silence and the utter quietness of the cell would have drove him insane, training under Orochimaru have kept him moving from one hideout to the other most of which were under ground; he silence didn't bother him; what he wasn't used to however is sitting around for this long; his freedom was beyond constrained in between the four walls of his cell. It's been a week since he was brought here from the hospital, however no one came to offer him an agreement, neither Sakura nor Naruto me to visit him, hell Sakura didn't come to see him at all after they brought him back. He knew that it was just psychological pressure; he knew that they were trying to make him desperate, but he was smart enough to realize it, but he wasn't sure if realizing it meant that it did not work.

To be honest he was relived, this way he doesn't have to deal with Orochimaru, he can let them handle that and he would just pretend to go along with whatever they offered, because this way he can be free to avenge his family, to finally kill his brother.

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"Do you think he would volunteer the information?" Tsunade asked from behind her disk.

"Well not without you offering him something in return…" Jiraya said from his chair arms folded

"How about Ibiki or Inoichi Yamanaka?"

"I don't think the elders are going to let you torture the last Uchiha and Knowing Orochimaru he would protect his secrets, if the seal controls his eyes I wouldn't put it behind him to set up severe mental blocks"

"So we have to play nice" Tsunade stated disappointed.

"Well not that nice…"

"Alright then let's go, I need you to put a seal on him I need to be able to track him if he decides to leave again"

When they reached Sasuke's cell, Jiraya just leaned on one of the walls and waited for them to finish.

"Alright, this is how it's going to work, you will tell us everything you know about Orochimaru and in exchange you will be on probation until I say otherwise, you will remain genin during that period. A tracking seal will be placed on you. If you as much as hurt a fly in this village you will be put back in this cell. You will follow orders to the letter and I mean the letter Sasuke, you will show respect to your superiors and if you betray this village one more time" she stepped closer to him "I will personally kill you in the most painful way; Understood?"

"Yes" Sasuke said then added "But I want to be on every mission that involves my brother"

"Your not in a position to make demands boy"

"The only thing I care about is avenging my clan, if I can't do that then there is no point in me helping you"

"Fine but if I find out you gave us false information or kept something from us…it's not going to be a happy day for you".

"What about my eyes?"

"What about them?"

"Aren't you going to fix them?"

"Even if I could I wouldn't, but I can't they are controlled by the seal, what I understand so far is that the seal is keeping your eyes from evolving, Orochimaru didn't want you getting too strong. When Orochimaru is dead you will be back to normal"

Sasuke just frowned at that.

"I'll send an ANBU member to escort you to the interrogation division, you will tell them everything you know after that you will come to my office to sign some papers and accept your new Konoha Head protector"

Sasuke nodded.

"Jiraya"

Jiraya just nodded and started on placing the tracking seal.

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Hinata was sitting on her bed lost in thought just staring blankly at the wall, she was supposed to go to sleep, it didn't come that easily though, it was the only time She had any peace of mind. She was absently playing with the sleeves of her night robe; she wore shorts and a tank top under it.

"_No matter how many times I think about this, there doesn't seem to be a logical reason to why he would do this, we were happy…why Naruto?"_ Hinata thought, then she felt suffocated by the unanswered questions.

She got up to the window and opened it, the night breeze felt cool on her face, she folded her arms behind her and leaned on the wall next to the window, she lowered her head staring at the floor, she seemed to be lost in thought again.

"How long do you plan to stay out there?" Hinata asked softly without moving.

A second passed before he came to the window, he stood by the window his feet on the edges of the building.

"I…" he started but he didn't know what to say, after all there is no way that he would be able to explain why he was stalking her after breaking things off.

"You can't do this anymore…"

"I Know…I'm sorry"

A hunting silence fell on the room, neither one wanted to end it, all their time apart they both longed for any kind of communication. Hinata didn't move or turn to face him, she didn't trust her self to look into his eyes, she knew the moment she did she would lose her already fleeting control.

Naruto stared at her, it hurt him that she didn't look at him, it hurt him in the way that her actions showed how much he had hurt her. He remembered Sakura's words, he knew he should tell her the truth, that's why he was here but seeing her shook his resolve, she was the single most important thing in his life, she made him feel loved, made him feel he was her special person, that she needed him as much as he needed her; he couldn't have her hate him because of what he was, he couldn't have the look of love be replaced with one of fear or hate…

"Hinata…I'm so sorry" he finally started.

When she didn't say anything, he added "I'm sorry if I hurt you…I didn't mean for it to be this way"

Hinata looked up at him suddenly "If?!...Yes Naruto you did hurt me in a way that nobody managed to before" Hinata said feeling angry at him for belittling what happened.

Naruto could see the anger in her eyes; it burned through him.

"You just broke it off not so much as an explanation as if all what we had meant nothing to you…" Hinata said softly this time, feeling a little bit of relief for saying it out loud for the first time.

"I wish I could explain Hinata but I can't…"

"Fine then leave, if you don't trust me enough to tell me then leave"

"It's not that I don't trust you!" Naruto climbed into her room feeling angry himself, he just didn't know at who to be angry, he just missed her so much "it's not fair, you think I want this?..." Naruto said as he walked to her, he was two feet away from her now.

"Then why would you do it?...before you left you said you loved me…did that mean nothing?" Hinata asked gazing into his eyes looking for an answer in them.

Naruto couldn't handle the way she was looking at him, so he lowered his gaze, he didn't know what to say, there was nothing he could say.

"So your not going to say anything?" now she was even more angry, she felt he was toying with her emotions and she did not like it one bit.

"What do you want me to say!" Naruto stared her in the eye.

Hinata took a step closer and pointed to the window "Just get out".

Naruto looked into her pale eyes, the light reflecting off of them, she was inches away from him, he felt his control slip further away and he gulped.

Hinata noticed the look in his eyes change; it was no longer guilt and anger. It was a longing that she was sure mirrored the one she felt, she could feel the anger in her being pushed down, she felt his warm breath on her skin, they didn't move an inch, too scared to move, to lose this or to act on it.

Hinata felt like there wasn't enough air in the room; she inhaled deeply to calm her self. She saw Naruto's gaze break off of hers for a second glancing at her lips, and when he looked back into her eyes she could see the hunger in them.

Naruto grabbed the rest of her still extended arm and lowered his lips to hers. The kiss was desperate; the moment they touched, it felt like a fire that consumed everything in its way was burning them. Hinata felt her back hit the wall behind her with a thud, she didn't care though, she was too consumed by the intensity of the kiss, his tongue invaded her mouth, further muddling her thoughts, she knew she shouldn't be doing this but she couldn't get herself to stop.

The kiss was aggressive, the anger and desperation taking over, Hinata freed her wrist from his grasp and kneaded her fingers into his hair bringing him closer, Naruto pressed him self against her closer, his hands traveled down to untie her rope, they slipped under the edge of her shirt and gripped her hips tightly.

When Hinata felt his warm hands on her bare skin, she tightened her grip in his hair, she felt like she was losing her mind and she knew this was getting out of control. She needed to stop this.

She broke from the kiss, put her hands on his shoulders and took a deep breath to clear her mind.

"I'm…I'm sorry I couldn't help my self…" Naruto said as he stepped back from her and put his hand over his eyes.

"It's not your fault I should have known better…" Hinata whispered.

"I'm sorry I wont bother you again" he said before he left quickly.

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**Please Review ^_^**


	14. Second Thoughts?

**Disclaimer~I Do Not Own the Rights to Naruto.**

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**AN/Sorry for the delay however this time it was because I needed to make a decision to the direction of the story, and for the longest time I couldn't. sigh...oh also sorry if I missed a few spelling mistakes or grammar ones but I haven't slept in a very long time -_-**

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**Chapter-14**

**Second Thoughts?**

The sunrays pierced through the window of her room, bursting the little bubble she managed to wrap her self in all night, the thoughts swirling around her head kept her up through out the night. She was more confused than ever, more hurt than ever. Last night was a mistake, she should have known better, but he was there so close within her reach and just for a glimpse of a second she thought she might have imagined everything and that he was still hers. A lonely tear dropped from her eye, she wiped it and got out of bed refusing to crumble down, she wasn't so sure she would be able to lift herself up again.

After Hinata showered and got ready, she was on her way to the clan's library when she passed her aunt and Hanabi on the breakfast table.

"Hinata, come eat with us…" Hanabi offered.

"Thank you, I'm not Hungry" was all Hinata said before she started walking again.

"Hina" Tayo started, when she saw that Hinata stopped again but with her back to them she continued "Darling you have to eat something".

"Auntie, honestly I'm not hungry"

"Please, for me?"

Hinata stood there for a second; she was not in a mood to be around people, she was too vulnerable at the moment.

Ever since, she and Naruto broke up they have been tiptoeing around her, which made her even more upset. She was fine; they didn't need to treat her as if something horrible happened to her.

She walked to the table and sat next to Hanabi facing her Aunt.

There was silence for a minute then Hanabi started "so what happened last night?"

Hinata whipped her head around to look at her sister with wide eyes "Wh…What do you mean?" Hinata gulped, the last thing she wanted was to make her little lapse of judgment become breakfast conversation.

"Are you back together?" Hanabi asked.

When Hinata did not say anything Tayo started "Mind filling me in here?"

"Naruto was in Hinata's room last night and they…"

Hinata interrupted her "You Watched?!" shocked that her sister would violate her privacy like that.

"No! eww! I heard voices in your room so I used my Byakugan to check on you, I deactivated it when you two started ki…"

"Alright!" Hinata blushed.

"Hina…What does that mean?" Tayo asked before she took a bite of her breakfast.

"It means nothing! It was just a mistake can we please just stop talking about it!"

"Okay…but you know that you can come talk to me anytime you want"

"Yes, Thank you" but she wasn't ready to talk just yet.

"Good Morning" Hiashi said from the doorway.

"Good Morning" they all replied.

"Tayo" Hiashi nodded his head as if to acknowledge her.

"Oh lord! Hiashi don't be so stiff and come eat breakfast with us" Tayo smiled at him sweetly.

Hiashi just stared at her coldly then moved his attention to Hinata "Hinata".

"Yes Otousan"

"There is a guest I'd like you to meet tonight at dinner, please don't be late"

"Of course Otousan, who is it though?"

"He is a young man from Kiri, he and his father will be joining us for dinner"

Hinata's face went grim. She has learned a long time ago that objecting to her father's attempts to find a suitable suitor for her was not an effective way to handle the situation, usually she would just meet the person just to appease her father, but today she didn't have the energy to fake her way through a dinner she didn't have the slightest interest in attending. However her father did not know about Naruto therefore, there was no reasonable explanation why she would refuse coming to dinner.

Tayo glanced at Hinata knowing Haishi's intention. She saw the desperate look on Hinata's face and she sighed _"The girl needs to learn to say no"_

"I'll see you at dinner father" she got up and went to the library to do some research. She has been burying her self in work lately, she was hoping that would take her mind off Naruto, her theory proved to be a miserable failure, she just sat there with the books in front of her while her mind wandered off.

It started raining an hour ago, he was soaked to the bone; he didn't go home last night. He needed to do something because if he sat around doing nothing he knew that he would realize the weight of his decision, the misery that laid ahead so instead he went to train and now that he was exhausted and cold he decided that sleeping might also keep him from thinking about her. He never hated what he was like this moment. _"Haven't I suffered enough?, Haven't I been hated enough?"_ he closed his eyes and he concentrated on the rain drops landing on his body and on the sound of lightening that tore the dark skies above.

When he reached his apartment, Jiraya was leaning against his doorframe.

"There you are" Jiraya stated in a soft tone as he looked at his student covered in mud and wet to the bone.

Naruto looked at his sensei for a second then went on to open the door "Tsunade told you didn't she?"

They walked inside.

"How are you doing?" Jiraya asked instead.

"I'm alive aren't I?"

"Naruto, Sakura is fine."

"I know she is…this time" Naruto sat at his dinner table.

"So what is the plan now, you blame yourself for the rest of your life?"

Naruto remained silent.

"Listen these things happen, Kyubi or no Kyubi. Accidents happen, it's part of the Shinobi's life"

"But I do have a demon inside me, how can anybody ever love me, how can they trust me when I am a constant danger to their lives?

"Like it or not Naruto people have accepted you the way you are, I did, Sakura, Tsunade, Iruka, Kakashi and Hinata did and a lot other, they do trust you".

Naruto lowered his gaze at the mention of her name.

"We broke up"

"What did you do?" Jiraya knew why Naruto would do something like that.

"She would never be safe with me…she doesn't even know about the Kyubi, she would hate me forever if she did and I can't handle that"

"Are you insane?!"

"What?"

"I said are you insane boy?" Jiraya repeated himself then added "I've never seen you as happy as you were in those last few months, why would you throw that away just because you're afraid?"

"I told you she wouldn't be safe around me, look what I did to Sakura!" Naruto was feeling angry; he really didn't need this right now.

"She is a Shinobi Naruto! She can walk out in a mission right this instance and die! She is not safe period!"

Naruto slammed his hand on the table and stood "I will not be the one to hurt her!"

"Since when do you give up?! You don't want to hurt her then train and become stronger so that you would never need to use the Kyubi's Chakra!" he was now facing Naruto, he looked right into his eyes and said in a softer tone "Naruto…don't throw this away…you will life your life full of regret…Have faith in the people around you…Trust her".

Jiraya walked to the door "Just think about it"

Naruto sat back down as he started thinking about what Jiraya just said, he was too exhausted though and ended up dozing off and falling asleep right there on the dinner table.

"Sakura-San, Hokage-Sama needs you in her office" a nurse informed Sakura who was suturing a wound on a patient.

"Okay, Thank You" she turned to the nurse next to her and asked "Can you please take over?" the nurse nodded and started treating the patient.

When Sakura reached the Hokage's office she knocked, opened the door and started to say "Tsunade- Sensei you asked for…" then she stopped when she saw Sasuke standing there, she stared at him for a moment; she haven't seen him since he was admitted into the hospital, she couldn't forgive him for what he did, he just walked out on her after she said she would move heaven and earth for him, he truly broke her, the fact that she helped in bringing him back didn't mean that all was well.

"_What is he doing here?..."_ Sakura thought as she walked in and stood in front of Tsunad's Desk.

"Yes Hokage-Sama" Sakura said calmly without looking at Sasuke again.

"You have a mission, Kakashi will be captain, but it's only a C Rank mission" Tsunade said not looking from the papers in front of her.

"C Rank?"

"Yes Sakura you know that I don't like to repeat myself"

"But Tsunade-Sen"

"Listen you wanted to bring him back and you did and that is great but now you have to deal with the fact that he is back, why should another team suffer; plus I can't send him on high level missions I don't trust him yet; and I won't have him sitting around here without any benefit to the village besides it's a High C rank"

Sakura opened her mouth to say something but then she closed it and tightened her lips.

"Here is the details, you will go to Sand and deliver some documents for a wealthy Merchant and receive an expensive item to bring back to him"

"What about Naruto?" Sakura asked as she took the file from Tsunade.

"He is sitting this one out" Tsunade said as she went back to her papers.

When the two of them left the Hokage's Building Sakura started "The file says we have to leave in two hours, we will meet at the gate" and before Sasuke could say anything she just walked away from him.

Sasuke stood there looking at her as she walked away _"She really changed, I can see the strength in her eyes…Good for you Sakura"_.

Jiraya walked into Tsunade's office early the next morning "Tsunade I need to run something by you"

Tsunade saw the serious tone in his voice "What now?"

"I Want Naruto to undertake Mental Training with the Yamanaka clan"

Tsunade looked at him for a second "What do you have in mind?"

"Well, I was thinking that we can place seals on the Kyubi's Chakra, so that Naruto can unseal and reseal each tale and train within each stage allowing him to control the Kyubi's Chakra better. However the seals will break if Naruto didn't have the mental strength to overpower the Kyubi. This is similar to the Eight Gates technique however since Naruto has another soul sealed into him; if he over uses the Kyubi's Chakra it could takeover that's why I need to him to be stronger mentally"

"You really think this could work?"

"Will I'm not sure but at the early stage he has nothing to lose, he could only benefit from the mental training and I'll see about the seals"

"Who would train him?"

"Inomurr Yamanaka owes me a little favor and he is responsible for mental training of youth in the Clan, I think he would be a great help"

"It would certainly help with the guilt he is feeling…"

"This village have hated it him enough to make him feel undeserving of love…he even broke it off with the Hyuuga girl" Jiraya said remembering his conversation with Naruto the day before.

"I had my doubts they were dating…" Tsunade sighed "Naruto you idiot"

"He was happy, after so much loneliness he was happy, for the longest time it's been me and him only and I saw what's behind that energetic mask he puts on…He needs her Tsunade"

Tsunade just looked at him for a second "Talk to Inomurr".

It was noon when Team seven was half way back to Konoha after delivering the documents in Sand; they received a small box to bring back with them. It was all going smooth.

Kakashi made a signal to Sakura and Sasuke and suddenly the two of them stopped and started running in the opposite direction while Kakashi increased his speed running ahead; 6 masked ninja's ran after Kakashi while another 6 ran after Sasuke and Sakura's direction.

Sakura ran up a tree and used her feet to push off the truck of the tree, flipped and dropped down with a Chakra infused punch towards two of the ninjas and they were knocked out, Sasuke turned around and ran towards another two of the ninjas and when he was within three feet of them he stopped and a current of chakra was released from his body in every direction and the three ninjas dropped to their feet, without missing a beat another ninja threw a giant fireball at Sasuke who jumped to the side to evade it but he got stabbed in the shoulder with a Kunai by another ninja that attacked him from behind, Sasuke Turned around and punched the ninja in the gut and then brought his knee to his face, the ninja fell to the ground. Sasuke looked up to see Sakura leaning on the tree trunk with her arms folded and just staring at him.

"You could have at least warned me…" Sasuke stated in a cold tone as he yanked out the Kunai from his shoulder it wasn't deep.

"I though that you had it under control" she smirked but then was surprised when the ninja who threw the fireball earlier jumped from underneath the ground drove a sword through Sasuke's abdomen, Sasuke fell to his knees.

"Sasuke!" Sakura yelled as she ran and knocked out the ninja and kneeled next to Sasuke to inspect the wound but she frowned, the wound wasn't bleeding as it should be, something was wrong, she looked around _"Something feels wrong"_ she made a hand seal "Release"

Suddenly there was no wounded Sasuke.

"Don't pretend you don't care anymore Sakura" Sasuke said from behind her while smirking with the last ninja laying next to his feet.

"You Asshole!"

"Hey guys wh" Kakashi was interrupted by Sakura turning around and punching Sasuke in the stomach so hard that he doubled over and threw up.

"Wooh…What did you do Sasuke…you should know better than to mess with Sakura"

"You.." Sasuke started but was interrupted by Sakura who sweetly said "Sasuke-Kun want to try that again?".

He remained silent as he winced from the very fresh pain.

"Jiraya-san, its been far too long" an old man with a cane greeted Jiraya.

"Indeed it has been Inomurr-San"

"So Jiraya-san to what do I owe the pleasure?" said the man as he led Jiraya to a room overlooking a pond and motioned to him to sit on one of the cushions.

"To be Honest I need a favor."

"Well then I'd finally be able to pay my debt now won't I? What can I do for you?"

"I need you to train someone, he needs mental training…"

"Why do I feel there is more to this?"

"It's Uzumaki Naruto"

Inomurr was silent for a moment "I have nothing against the boy, but don't you think you are playing a dangerous game? To put it simply the boy has two souls inside him that could be confusing of he was to undergo metal training…"

"I know but he needs this"

"He is also much older than my usual students, that will make it harder."

Jiraya just nodded.

"We have Hokage-Sama's approval?"

Jiraya nodded again.

"Alright tell me about the boy"

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**I just want to say a big big thank you to everyone who reviewed, this chapter's reviews were really special to my heart 3. Please Please keep them coming ^_^ they give a much needed push to write even though I have little free time.**


	15. Garden Talk

**Disclaimer~I Do Not Own the Rights to Naruto.**

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AN/ **I know I know I'm a horrible person for not posting for almost a month now, I feel really bad! I miss this so much! but last month was a month from hell, Can't tell you how sleep deprived I have been. please be patient me I'm going through my last year of law school and sometimes it gets insane! ****I don't mean to make things worse but i'll be going on vacation for two weeks, i may not be able to post anything new during sorry about that :S.**

**I just want to say Thank you so very much to everyone who reviewed, honestly guys they keep me alive and they are a source of happiness in my life.**

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Chapter-15

Garden Talk

Hinata was getting ready for the dinner that she dreaded _"I have no energy for this"_ Hinata sighed. She wore a light peach kimono with a few white and random floral prints; it was simple in its beauty. _"It's okay it will pass and I'll be back in my room before I know it…"_

There was a knock at the door.

"Come in" Hinata said softly

When Tayo opened the door she whistled "You look beautiful".

Hinata laughed softly "Thank you auntie"

"Tell me my dear, where did you get such a beautiful Kimono…Must have been from someone with magnificent taste" Tayo said with a playful tone.

Hinata smirked at that and rolled her eyes "Yes magnificent you…"

"Silly me, who else…" Tayo said as she shrugged.

Hinata smiled at her aunt's attempt to cheer her up.

Tayo closed the door and turned to Hinata "You know dear if you don't feel attending dinar to meet some guy that you know you will probably never see again I can talk to Hiashi…"

Hinata seemed to contemplate that for a second "Thanks auntie but I don't think that would be wise…besides it might do me some good to be around people instead of in my room just thinking about him…"

"Do you miss him?" Tayo asked trying to get her to talk.

Hinata was silent for a moment then she went over to the dresser and started brushing her hair just to have something to do but then finally said "More than I can explain…".

Tayo sighed and went to sit on Hinata's bed.

Hinata bit her lower lip then added "he said he loved me before he left for his mission…"

Tayo studied her "do you love him?"

"y…Yes…."

"Hinata honey, I know it may not seem like it right now…but trust me you will get through this…"

"I know…" Hinata whispered but she wasn't so sure if she did; she added feeling the conversation getting a little in a direction she was not ready for yet "I should go down stairs they are probably waiting for me…"

When she went down stairs, she walked to the guest dinning room; she could hear a few voices indicating that the guests have arrived, Hinata took a deep breath and opened the door.

"So what does that mean?" Ino asked as she walked along Sakura out of the hospital.

"For the millionth time Ino, it does not mean anything"

"Come on! You can't actually believe that_ I_ will believe that…"

"What do you want me to say?" Sakura looked at her friend.

"That you still like him…maybe even more?"

"No! He is an obnoxious self-serving jerk"

"Well I Know _That_…" Ino snorted then added "But he was all that even back then...so that doesn't change things"

"Drop it Ino…" Sakura said in a warning tone.

Ino sighed.

"Your turn! How is the Kiba plan going…has he asked you out yet?"

"No! Can you believe it?!"

"Yes Actually I can, you're both waiting for the other to make the first move and not because you are shy either, god knows that this is not the issue…this is just about whose in control"

"I will break him, mark my words Sakura"

"I have no doubt" Sakura laughed at her friend's stubbornness.

"This is me, so I'll see you tomorrow Sakura"

"Goodnight Ino"

Sakura walked to her house, thinking of the obnoxious self-serving jerk; and she hated that she couldn't help but think of him.

She sighed _"When will I learn…"_.

Hinata sat on the left side of her father; they had finished dinner and were drinking tea. It wasn't as bad as she thought it would be; the guy and his father were nice, polite and interesting with their stories from all the countries they traded in. Mamoru sat across from her, he was handsome, he had dark brown hair, tall with a somewhat muscular form, tan skin and sharp eyes. _"But he is not Naruto…" _Hinata thought.

"Excuse me" Hinata said softly as she stood up and left the room and walked to the garden, she took a deep breath needing the night breeze to fill her lungs; she sat at the bench Naruto had first asked her out. She stayed there for a moment enjoying the solitude.

Mamoru cleared his throat from behind her "Umm Hinata-san"

Hinata stood "Hello Mamoru-san, I'm sorry that I left I just needed a little fresh air"

He smiled slightly at that then started "Actually I'm glad that we get to talk alone for a second…"

"_Oh No…"_ Hinata thought guessing where the conversation was going.

"Hinata-san I…"

"Mamoru-san, I'm really faltered but I…umm…" she said softly but stopped not knowing how to explain.

Mamoru stared at her fidgeting for a second and then scratched the back of his head and chuckled "Hinata-san, I'm glad to hear that; But honestly I'm in love with someone and I don't think it would be fair to me or you if whatever our fathers had in mind is to workout…"

Hinata blushed deep red from embarrassment _"Oh my god am such an Idiot! Why did I just assume!"_

"I'm so sorry! I…I didn't mean to assume you were…" she didn't know what to say so she just blushed some more and covered her face with her hands.

Mamoru laughed at that "Valid assumption…I mean a beautiful girl like you…"

This time Hinata blushed at his complement, then the corners of her mouth edged upwards, and she started laughing "I can't believe I just said that, you must think I'm a self obsessed freak…"

"No no, not at all…It's just that I wanted to make things clear. Not that you were interested anyhow…"

"Please understand that I have my own reasons…"

"I can tell…broken heart?" Mamoru interrupted her, and as he said those words he felt he had crossed some sort of line "I'm sorry I didn't mean to pry…it's just that gazing at stars, being distracted through dinner and the general sadness about you…I guess I can relate to that"

"It's okay…I just didn't know I was that obvious…wait I thought you said you were in love?"

He smiled "Yeah I'm…she just doesn't know I love her".

"Oh…One of those…I also can relate to that" Hinata smiled slightly as she remembered how she used to have a crush on Naruto and he did not know she existed.

There was silence for a moment as Mamoru sat down on the bench as well.

"Who ever he is he is a fool…" he said breaking the silence.

Hinata smiled weakly.

"Her name is Aika…"

"That's a beautiful name…why haven't you told her?"

"What if she doesn't feel the same way…she is one of my closest friends, she is really important to me and if I tell her and she doesn't feel the same I'd lose her"

Hinata nodded in understanding but then added "but wouldn't you rather know if she does or doesn't?"

"More than anything"

"Just tell her, because I think the risk is worth it…you don't want this kind of regret in your future"

Mamoru sighed.

"So tell me about him?"

"Umm…it's complicated…to be honest I'm not really sure I understand what happened, his name is Naruto, we have been dating for a little over three months now but then not too long ago he said that we shouldn't see each other anymore right after he told me he loved me" Hinata said a little hurriedly from the frustration then realized she got a little too excited "Sorry…I don't really know why I'm telling you, a stranger, all of this".

"Maybe because we are strangers we can talk to each other like that"

"Yeah…" she smiled and added "you know it may not seem like it but those few months were the happiest in my life…you shouldn't live without at least trying to experience that".

Mamoru seemed to be calculating her words for a moment because he didn't say anything, when he finally made up his mind he asked "Will you help me pick a gift for her?"

Hinata smiled kindly "I don't think that would be wise Mamoru-san…My father doesn't exactly know about Naruto and I don't want my father to think there is something between us; also, I have a mission tomorrow a little after noon"

"Come on please, I need help, I have no idea what to buy…besides after rejecting me like you did earlier I'd say you owe me" he said jokingly.

Hinata laughed at that and sighed "fine, but we have to go early I still have that mission"

"Thank you Hinata-san"

The clouds pushed together blocking the morning sun, refusing any rays to escape through its cushiony thickness, they cast a dark shadow upon the day.

Jiraya was walking through the streets, looking upon the people going about their business, and he frowned at their obliviousness, they were a reason for his student's misery; he would die for his village but sometimes he wished they would open up their eyes and see a way out of this misguided need to blame someone for something that he had no hand in.

When he reached Naruto's apartment he knocked _"I hope this works…for your sake Naruto"_

Naruto opened the door with sleepy eyes and when he saw that it was Jiraya he sighed "Your not here to lecture me again Ero-Sannien, are you?"

Jiraya laughed and walked in "Not exactly"

Naruto shrugged.

"I have a solution for your problem…that is if it works" he then continued "I was thinking that maybe we can seal each tail of the Kyubi in a way to minimize the Chakra and then train in each level so that you can control the Chakra better also at the same time it would be harder to break both seals and thus there won't be anymore breakouts, but you must understand that this is a long process it would take years to complete."

Naruto remained silent for a moment taking in the information "This…this would work?" Naruto asked still feeling this was too good to be true.

"In theory, but as I said it's a lot of work and it's going to take a long time…but then again that is your kind of thing" Jiraya smiled then added "First you need to under go Mental Training, having another soul sealed inside you might make things confusing and using the Kyubi's Chakra would make him umm more active in a way, so this is to ensure you can remain in control mentally as well as physically; I talked to a friend of mine from the Yamanaka clan, he would train you for now until we get to the sealing part I'll take over. You start the day after tomorrow, be at the clan house at 2 and don't you dare be late"

"I don't know what to say…"

"Don't worry about it kid, so when do you plan to talk to the Hyuuga girl?"

Naruto was silent.

"You are going to talk to her, aren't you?" Jiraya asked with a warning tone.

"What if she hates me?" Naruto asked in a soft vulnerable tone.

"Listen, it's up to you if you tell her or not, I just came here to tell you to stop sulking and do something about the situation" Jiraya said as he was heading for the door. _"Maybe some reverse phycology would work…"_

"Jiraya-sensei…" Naruto started when Jiraya was leaving.

"_Jiraya-Sensei?"_ Jiraya turned to look at Naruto.

"Thank you…for not giving up on me"

Jiraya nodded and left.

"_Maybe…"_ Naruto thought as he went to get ready for training.

Kakashi sat at a tree branch reading his book; beneath him Sakura was sitting reading a medical book with her back against the tree's trunk.

"I can see why Sakura would do this but you too Kakashi?".

"That's Kakashi-Sensei to you and I'm here to supervise…primarily"

"Hnn" Sasuke then looked at Sakura

"Don't look at me, it's bad enough that my pay check took a serious drop ever since we have been taking C-Missions, Thanks to you. I'm not going to waste my time on this as well" Said Sakura, her eyes never leaving the book.

When Sasuke turned around to look for animals to hunt, Sakura just smirked; Kakashi noticed that and lifted an eyebrow _"She is really making him pay…can't say he didn't see it coming"_

"Good Morning Mamoru-san" Hinata said as she walked towards him near the Hyuuga compound gate.

"Good Morning Hinata-san"

They walked towards the village center in silence before Hinata started "So did you have a gift in mind or we are just looking?"

"Will not really, but she likes cooking she actually works at her family's bakery and she also loves music, maybe we can start with that?"

Hinata nodded.

When they finally got there, Hinata pointed at a shop that sold antiques and such things "This is a lovely shop I'm sure we will find something there".

"Alright, lets go".

When they went inside, they started looking around; it was a very small shop that was cramped with stuff of all sizes and shapes, at the counter was a young lady who greeted them when they entered and offered if she could help them with anything.

"How about this?" Mamoru pointed at a crystal swan.

Hinata looked at the swan then at him and lifted an eyebrow "I don't think so"

He laughed "see? I need help!"

"oh this is beautiful!" Hinata said as she fluttered to where she saw the necklace, he followed and she pointed at an olive green vintage necklace.

"That is beautiful indeed".

While Mamoru was asking the shop keeper to see the necklace, Hinata was wondering around the little shop, she suddenly clapped her hands together "You said she likes music righty?"

"Yeah"

Hinata picked up a rectangular wooden box that was carved delicately and when she opened it a soft music started playing.

"You must get her this, it's very beautiful, it's a music jewelry box" Hinata said smiling.

"Actually that's perfect for her!" he said excited _"I can't wait to see her again…"_.

"I'm sure she will love it"

Mamoru bought the box and as they were leaving the shop he stated "Hinata-san Thank you so much and not just for the gift…" Mamoru hugged Hinata "I'll go see Aika the very second I'm back home!"

"Your welco…" Hinata stopped when she saw who was standing before her, it was Naruto staring at her; what made her stop was the way he was looking back and forth between her and Mamoru; she saw the hurt in his eyes.

"Na…Naruto" she wanted to explain, she did not even know why she wanted to, it's not like they were together anymore.

There was a silence for a minute.

Naruto gulped and said while looking into Hinata's eyes "who is this Hinata?"

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	16. Just Stupid and impatient

**Disclaimer~ I Do Not Own The Rights To Naruto.**

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**Hello everyone, it's been a while but I finally wrote a chapter! short as it may be, I've been blocked for ever now. hope you enjoy it, would love to hear your thoughts, and thanks to everyone who reviewed. I love you guys, I really do 3. **

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**Chapter -16**

**Just Stupid and impatient**

Love lost…is what I fear…for the end it means….

You walk the earth a defeated man…dethroned into an abyss of darkness

You cling to the strings dethatched…falling and falling still

You close the eyes with a frown and surrender to the embracing void below

A Silent scream begs for a sneak of light….

"Hey Hinata….thought you had a mis…" Tayo started asking when she saw Hinata walking through the front door of the house but stopped when Hinata just walked past her and up to her room with energy radiating from her, the bad kind.

"What did that boy do again?" Tayo asks no one in particular and then goes back to what she was doing.

Upstairs Hinata is pushing equipment down into her bag angrily, a mission right this moment seems perfect, it would provide the perfect escape.

"_What right does he have?!" _Hinata breathes out loudly _"He is acting like nothing happened…as if we are still together, he is going to drive me crazy…how the hell am I supposed to get over him if he won't leave me alone…"_

There is a tab at the window and Hinata looks up and Naruto is standing there.

Hinata stares at him standing outside her window for a second, before she finally goes to open the window.

"Naruto not now…please" she says in a soft tired tone and it makes him loath himself for hurting her again.

"Hina…"

"I have a mission, I can't do this right now"

He stands there silent for a moment and contemplates for the last time if what he's about to do is the right thing _"can I be selfish just once?"_.

"I'm serious I don't have time for this…" Hinata says while turning back to packing.

Naruto climbs into her room takes a deep breath and grabs her wrist and pull her to him and says " I love you" and quickly leans in and kisses her and pulls back after a second to see her reaction.

Hinata slaps him "Are you crazy?" Hinata waits for him to actually answer that, when he doesn't she continues "were you there when you broke up with me?...What in the world are you trying to do to me?"

"I want to explain….everything…I've been such an idiot Hinata".

She looked at him with wide eyes, she really wanted to know why he ended things but she didn't like the fact that he had all the power _"He doesn't get to waltz in here and explains whenever he wants to explains after what he did"_

Hinata goes to her bed picks up her bag and walks to the door but before she leaves she turns around and says "I have a mission to go to but you can stay here and explain all you want".

"Hinata please, if you'd just lis…" Naruto started but Hinata slammed the door behind her effectively ending their conversation.

"Hinata you are late" Shino stated but when Hinata glared at him he adjusted his glasses and just turned to Kiba and asked "shall we?"

"Umm yeah let's go, we have a lot of ground to cover before we lose the light" and they were on their way.

While they were walking Kiba looked over to Hinata who had her head down and was in deep thought "Hinata, is everything okay…you seem a little upset"

"Yeah I'm fine Kiba, Thank you…just one of those days I guess" she smiled at him but they both knew that it was a fake one.

"Is it Naruto?" Shino asked ignoring the hint that Hinata didn't want to talk about it.

Hinata just nodded.

"You know Hinata you just say the word and myself and Shino will go kick his ass, I mean it."

Hinata smiled at that and looked at him "Don't tempt me"

Kiba chuckled at that.

As Naruto was walking to the Yamanaka clan house he was thinking about yesterday's events _"I must be the stupidest person to walk the earth, how couldn't I see that what I did was stupid, well there is the fact that I missed her and I just wanted to kiss her but god I deserved that slap and just my luck too that she has a mission when I finally decided to tell her the truth…Sakura was pissed when I told her what happened, it's a miracle I managed to escape without bodily harm"_

"_Hope she forgives me…I will get her back if it kills me" _he sighed and chuckled to himself _"which she might actually do, I've never seen her angry like that, she slapped me!"_

When Naruto got to the clan house, he asked for Inomurr-san and he was guided to a somewhat secluded huge room of the house, it felt like a dojo but not quite the same.

He looked around and when he turned there was an old man standing there just staring at him.

"You must be Jiraya's student" stating more than asking.

Naruto bowed to him "Nice to meet you, I just want to thank you for your help"

"You can call me Inomurr-Sensei for now, and lets just say I owed Jiraya one"

"Now, I trust Jiraya gave you a summery if why you are here?"

"All he told me is that its mental training"

"That lazy womanizer…" Inomurr mumbled to himself "Alright, young man here is how it will go; the goal from this training is to make your mind strong enough to understand where you end and where the Kyubi starts, and that's on the spiritual and mental level, if you do that along with your usual training, you will be able to control the Kyubi much much more."

"and how are we going to do that?" Naruto asked.

"You mustn't get ahead of yourself boy, the road ahead is very long; mental training is very different from the physical one, it requires patience" Inomurr looked at Naruto then started pacing "to begin, we must first clean your mind, so to speak; this type of training is usually given to the children of the Yamanaka clan so there is no need to clear their minds, but you are an exception so we need to put you as close as possible to that state of mind, therefore your going to do a mind cleanse."

"Mind cleanse?"

"Yes, over the years all the memories and the experiences you had not to mention the Kyubi's existence just piled on into your mind without being filtered, you need to meditate for long periods each day everyday and basically let you brain do the work, don't push your mind to think of nothing, that never works at the beginning just go with the flow for now"

"Okay" Naruto was a little confused but he went on with it.

"We need to separate your entity from the Kyubi's entity, your situation is very Unique, so until I say so you are not to go on any missions, no physical training that requires any sort of chakra, only taijutsu, being exhausted might actually help with the meditating, it is very important to not use your chakra, this would somewhat isolate the Kyubi's chakra because you would put your and effectively his spiritual energy to sleep for a while, Understood?"

"Yes, how long would this take?"

"Depends on your mind really"

"And this would work?"

"This is new territory, but in theory it should besides you have nothing to lose having a strong mind is always a plus and from what I heard from Jiraya you need it" Inomurr smiled at his own little joke

"hey now!"

"Oh, forgot to ask, do you have a girlfriend or someone like that?"

"Ummm, it's complicated…for now. Why?"

"While doing the mind cleanse you can't, how shall I put this, get intimate with her or anyone else"

Naruto blushed at that but asked nevertheless "why not?"

"The Kyubi shares your experiences, and emotions of that type are too strong; they would muddle with the process of separating your entity form the Kyubi's. What you feel, he feels."

"And you say you don't know how long this would take?"

Inomurr laughed at that "so impatient…"

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	17. Vulnerability at it's best

**Disclaimer~ I Do Not Own The Rights to Naruto.**

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**Hey everyone! I missed you! I finally managed to write after what seemed like forever...hope you like it, let me know please...oh Merry Christmass ^_^**

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**Chapter – 17**

**Vulnerability at it's best**

_The intolerance is here again_

_It comes and goes as it pleases _

_It defines what we are, you and I_

_When it speaks its words are absolute …_

_But then it fades with whispers of doubt of what had been said_

_So yes…I blame it on my fleeting tolerance. Otherwise I'd start to doubt the moments we have shared, the smiles you have given me, the private words you whisper to me that flutter my heart._

The sky is lit by the quite beauty of shimmering stars, they flirt with the moon that remains arrogantly unfazed, the breeze is rustling the tree branches, playing a beautiful melody for whoever would listen to there whispers. It was simply a beautiful night, the kind of night that you would just take a deep breath to let the beauty reach your soul, you'd stand still afraid to disturb the preserved quietness of it. However Hinata was not really concerned with the beauty of it, it passed by her unnoticed and unappreciated.

All that was occupying her mind was the fact that they were now almost back at the village and while she enjoyed the time away and the chance to get some prospective it ended all too soon without her reaching a conclusion, she felt as lost as she has been when she left for the mission; she decided to postpone dealing with it as much as possible she will just burry herself in training and research, maybe even work on becoming a Jonin.

Hinata took a deep breath when the gates became visible; she turned to see Kiba eyeing her.

"Hinata, are you going to be okay?" Kiba asked with concern in his voice.

Hinata smiles at him trying to assure him she is fine but she knew deep down it wouldn't fool him "Yeah, we Hyuugas are tough" and she winked at him.

They continue to walk in silence for the rest of they way, when they reach the gate they declare themselves and then they are home, even though its late they would still have to go report to Tsunade's office, reporting at night was the worst thing a Konoha shinobi has to go through, Tsunade would be drunk which means crazy temper, you'd have to walk on egg shells around her, even more than usual.

When they reached the Hokage's office, Hinata noticed Naruto sitting one of the benches in front of the building.

"_Here we go again…"_ thought Hinata.

When Naruto saw the three of them approach, he walked towards Hinata with assured steps, determined to make her listen to him.

"Hey, welcome back" his greeting seemed general to all of them but at the same time his tone carried out a special message only for her ears.

"Hey, Thanks" Kiba replied while Shino nodded and Hinata just remained silent.

Naruto turned his attention completely towards Hinata and whispered softly "Can we please talk?"

Hinata was about to say that it was late and that she was tired but when she looked up at him and saw the desperation in his eyes, she stopped; it touched something in her, she felt a bang of guilt for not listening.

Kiba interrupted "Hinata?"

"Its fine Kiba, do you mind if you and Shino report to the Hokage?"

"Not at all, we will see you tomorrow Hinata" Kiba added before he and Shino left.

Then it was just the two of them; they stood there for a second not sure what is next. Then Naruto gestured for them to walk in the opposite direction of the Hokage building and towards a nearby pound.

"Umm, I don't know where to start Hina…I have so much to say and so much to explain"

When he was met by silence again he continued "What I'm about to tell you, I haven't really told anyone, the people that know have figured it out somehow, but I never had to tell anyone this."

They reached the pound and sat at one of the benches, Naruto stared down at his feet and took a deep breath.

"I just want to start by telling you that when I said I love you, I meant it and I still do…in my messed up logic I thought I was protecting you when I ended things between us, but Hinata believe me when I say it was the hardest thing that I had to do…for me to end my own happiness after so much sadness…" he looked at her and saw her staring intently at him waiting for him to continue, she was so focused on him it made him more nervous.

"You know the mission where Sakura and I went to get Sasuke back and everyone one came back badly injured?" when she nodded he continued "Sakura's injury wasn't caused by an enemy or by Sasuke…" Naruto looked down again unable to say this while looking into her eyes "I was the one to hurt her".

He looked up at her and saw the confusion in them.

"I…I don't understand" Hinata said

"I didn't mean to…" Naruto sighed "Oki, I'm sure I'm not making any sense, let me start again"

"You remember how we took in the Academy about the fourth and how he died protecting the village from the Kyubi?"

"Yes…." Hinata really couldn't see how this was relevant.

"Well the story was not exactly entirely true, it was slightly edited, see the Kyubi was too strong for a mere human to defeat it, it had too much Chakra, So in order to save everyone the fourth had to seal him into something or rather someone…nobody from our generation knows this because the Third Hokage made a law prohibiting anyone to talk about it…Anyway, the fourth had to seal the Kyubi into a child because the Chakra was too much it would not have worked with an adult with an already developed chakra system"

Hinata was silent for a moment, she was taking in what Naruto just said, her brain was working on overdrive, she was slowly putting things together, the fight between Naruto and Neji, Naruto's healing abilities, the whiskers and the foreign Chakra in Sakura's system a her Injury, she was getting there and she was terrified to realize what that would mean.

She looked into his defeated eyes, she was too scared to ask what she was thinking, but he just nodded to her, she really didn't have to ask her eyes said it all.

Naruto started again with a shaky voice "I'm so sorry Hinata, I'm sorry that I did not tell you earlier, I had no right it's just that this has been like a shadow that hanged over me my entire life and then you came along and…" he paused for a second "the last thing I wanted was hurt you, I swear…after what happened to Sakura, I was afraid that I might hurt you or worse…I can't handle that, to know that it was me that did that to you…I'm sorry"

He looked up at her and was taken back when he saw tears rolling silently down her cheek, he gulped he did not know what the tears meant was she scared of him now, sad for him, he was too scared to ask.

"Hinata I just want to say that I understand if you hate me for this, I'm used to it really…I just want you to be happy and I thought you have a right to know"

Hinata felt guilt, guilt that she blamed him all this time, guilt for all the times she saw him siting alone as kids and she did not become his friend or comfort him, she understood now why everyone treated him badly...it was Human cruelty.

She moved closer to him and silently hugged him and whispered "I'm so sorry".

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	18. It's going to be torture

Chapter 18

It's going to be torture

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Disclaimer ~ I Do Not Own The Rights to Naruto

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I know I know ...there is no excuse i'm just sorry :(

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How you look at me with those believing eyes...it makes me shudder, frightened at the idea of disappointing…I pray to god to give me strength to bring true what you see

To have faith in that way…that utter believe!

I'm just afraid to a point where it is an obsession not let you down, not let that believe die with me.

However, I'm most afraid to go through life without your eyes telling me all that, without the challenge of channeling your hopes and dreams, without my own belief that you will always be my solitude, my rock and my very center for truth.

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She closed her eyes, feeling the sun heat on her skin and took a deep breath. It was a beautiful day and she can finally after along time feel like the day is going to be a good day. Hinata didn't get much sleep last night, she stayed up talking to Naruto long through the night, they had a lot to catch upon, she told him how she used to watch him when they were kids; how he has always been a source of strength for her...

He teared up when she told him that, he always buried the thoughts about that time of his life because it was dark and unpleasant but for Hinata to tell him that she has always been there...ever since the beginning..."I just wish I noticed..." he told her.

Naruto told her briefly about his training, conveniently leaving the part about how he is not supposed to have any side activities while training, he had just got her back he wasn't about to soil the mood.

Hinata smiled to herself, it was amazing the way she and Naruto connected last night, and she felt so…so FULL. Although, she is still upset by the things he told her about his childhood, it really made her question her feelings towards the village…he was just a child, she did not care of the Kyubi was locked inside him. She already missed him…she felt like she needed him in a way that she just wanted to reach over to him…she couldn't wait till she saw him, he said he would come by at night and they would go for a walk…she didn't even care that he was going to have to climb up to her room.

Hinata started walking to the hospital to start her shift early, while humming.

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On the other side of the village Naruto was looking for Lee to ask him to spar with him, Inomurr-Sensei told him that he needed to get exhausted for better results but he also couldn't use any jutsues so Lee was his guy. On his way to Lee's usual training spot his mind wondered to Hinata and how good it felt that she accepted him like that after all that he had told her. _"She is amazing…how did I get so lucky? Although it was bit scary when she threatened me that if I hid something from her or acted like "jerk" again she will let Kiba and Akamarue rip me a new one…I'm going to have to be carful!"_

"Naruto-San, what brings you here ?...Don't tell me you wish to explode your youthful energy in a spar with me?" Lee interrupted Naruto's thoughts.

"Umm…when you put it like that I feel like I have to reconsider" Naruto said scratching the back of his head.

"Don't be silly now….come I can always use the exercise….so ready to lose?" Lee said as he grinned at Naruto.

"Bring it Bushy-Brows!"

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"Ummm you seem chipper?" Sakura said to Hinata not being in a great mood herself.

"I do?" Hinata replied vaguely while she was going through some papers on her desk.

"Well if you haven't noticed you have been umm how shall I put this?...in monster mood for the past few weeks and everyone that was sane avoided crossing you and now you are…that" Sakura said pointing at Hinata.

"Is that bad?" Hinata asked in an amused tone.

"No not at all…I'm just curious is all".

"Aren't you always Sakura" Hinata said while she got up from her desk to grab a book from the book shelves…then she topped and turned around to Sakura "Question is why are you in a bad mood…Could it be that you have to Sauske-San?" Hinata added as she lifted an eyebrow, it was so good to miss with Sakura that she almost felt bad about it…almost.

"Don't et me started on that!"

Hinata laughed at that and griped the books and put them in her bag "Anything you wanna talk about?"

"Nah…he is just being his usual lovely self…"

"Well I'm here if you ever need to vent it off…actually I'm going home now but you know they way…" Hinata smiled at Sakura who smiled back

"Thanks and have good night"

"I will" Hinata winked at her and left.

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when Hinata got close to her house, she saw Naruto leaning on one of the walls, she smiled at him.

"I thought we were meeting a bit later?"

"We were…I just could stop thinking about you"

They looked at each other for a while, and then Naruto got closer and held her hand in his "I missed you Hina"

"I missed you too"

"So what do you want to do?" Naruto asked as they started walking to nowhere specifically.

"umm how about that pond where we used to sit?"

"That sounds perfect Hina"

"So how was your day?"

"Nothing special, it was a bit different being confined to physical training only. Oh also Inomurr-Sensei said I lacked focus today…that was your fault by the way…thanks a lot for that!"

Hinata laughed at that and smiled "Can't say I'm sorry about that one"

"So Hina Ice Cream or cinnamon rolls?"

"No No sir no more deserts I'm going to start training to be a Jonin and I can't have non of that for now"

"You will survive without the cinnamon rolls…?" Naruto said doubtfully

"I'm not that attached to them that much! I can do this!" Hinata added stubbornly

Naruto laughed out loud "Yeah right! And I hate ramen…"

Hinata narrowed her eyes at him and playfully punched him

They sat on the bench and talked for a long time and laughed…it was very nice slipping into their old routine, it was comfortable again.

On their way back to Hinata's house they were walking quietly, until Hinata suddenly stopped walking, making Naruto stop as well.

"Why haven't you kissed me yet?" Hinata asked him without really looking at him.

Naruto was caught off-guard "I…."

"I mean you were always very affectionate…did something change?" Hinata asked softly while blushing still not looking at him.

Naruto smiled softly and got closer to her and gently pushed her jaw up with his fingers to make her look at him and whispered "Hinata…you have no idea how much I want to…I miss kiss you the most…I mean just now looking at your lips is driving me crazy and its all that I can do now is to not kiss you"

Hinata gulped, she forgot how intense his gaze can be she felt like her insides were on fire specially since he was standing so close and saying what he just said "T..Then Why?" she couldn't help but stutter.

"It's my stupid mental training…Inomurr-Sensei said I…we can't umm do anything sexual like that until I make some progress…I'm sorry"

Hinata blushed at his choice of words

"It's okay Naruto…we can wait"

"I don't want to wait…" Naruto added as he lowered his gaze to her lips then back again to her eyes

"but…your training"

Naruto closed his eyes and took a deep breath than moved away from her "This is going to be torture "

"Umm it's not going to take long" Hinata asked while blushing "Right?"

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Please Read and Review ^_^


	19. Not on the Menue

~Disclaimer I do not own the rights to Naruto

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VERY sorry for the tiny chap. just wanted to get something out there

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Chapter - 19

Not on the Menue

"_I can't be this childish…now can I ?...the moment I know I can't have something I just want it more…but he look really good I really like his hair without the headband ..Its so wild I just want to tangle my fingers in it and …okay this is getting out of hand"_ she thought to her self while she stared at him from across the table as he talking excitedly to lee.

"_Well he didn't have to look this good either, ...damn this is not like me….I just need to focus on something else or I'l…"_

"Hinata!" Ten Ten's voice finally cut through Hinata's Naruto bubble.

"Huh?" Hinata looked at Ten Ten, Sakura and Ino who were giggling at her blushing face.

"you ate him up with your eyes…what's gotton into you?" Ten Ten said as she sipped her drink.

Hinata blushed harder as she tried to hide her face behind the menu.

"I'll tell you its not gonna be Naruto any time soon…he cut her off" Sakura whispered not so low

"Sakura!" Hinata slapped her menu down on the table shocked at her friend's language and the fact that she just disclosed private information in a dinner party.

"Oh …I'm sorry Hinata..I think I might be a little drunk….Ino am I drunk?"

"Oh honey yes you are…now stay quite while Hinata tells us all about her …umm situation?" Ino said as she winked at Hinata

"We will not be talking about such a thing" Hinata whispered harshly.

"Have it your way" Ino said as she waved at the waiter "Kind sir another bottle of Sake for my friend over here" Ino siled slyly while Ten Ten laughed at her friend's tactics.

Hinata narrowed her eyes at the blond "Come on Ino….please not now"

"So Later?" Ino asked

"Ugh fine you Yamanaks and weird nosiness!" Hinata said a little too high that Naruto and the guys turned towards them

"Umm Hina everything okay?"

"Yeah Naruto we are fine…I guess Hinata is just a little bit hungry…" Ino sneered at Hinata

"Oh okay I'll ask the waiter to take your order…we don't have to wait for Niji.."

Ino laughed and added "I don't think she likes anything on the menu …maybe she would pref.."

"I'll take the soup!" Hinata said sharply cutting Ino off

"Okaaay" Naruto look at her confused as he waved the waiter over.

"So what was that about during dinner...it was weird" Naruto said as he walked Hinata home.

"Umm nothing just…girl stuff" Hinata said as she blushed.

"Your blushing…"

"No I'm not!"

"Was it about me? Or us?" Naruto asked amused by her blushing

She looked at him for a second, smiled and started walking faster

"So I was thinking maybe we can train together…I need to build my stamina and you need the physical exercise …right?" Hinata said trying to change the topic.

"Sure that is a great Idea…and it's finally something I'm better at not like those damn chakra exercises where you win every time!" Naruto blabbered on.

"Excuse me …better?" Hinata stopped walking as she lifted an eyebrow at him.

Naruto started panicking as he flailed his hands in front of him "Umm I ..I didn't mean I'm better…I was just sayi.."

Hinata was just messing with him, she knew that stamina wasn't her strength but she continued as she interrupted him again with a dead serious face as she got very close to him that one would think she was going to kiss him "You Know Naruto, we Hyuugas may be calm…but that is only because we don't have to break a sweat…It's all at the tip of our fingers" Hinata said as she channeled a tiny bit of chakra at her finger tips and ran her fingers across his torso...it was just enough to send a tingle through his body.

Naruto gulped.

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Please read and review ^_^ seriously guys need a little motivation here.


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